Integrated end-to-end travel instrument (ti) device generation system and integrated travel instrument device

ABSTRACT

The system includes a webserver (110) to generate a passenger journey document file (PJDF) (160) comprising a plurality of end-to-end passenger travel reservations (PTRs) for a set of passengers. The PJDF includes, for each travel leg of an end-to-end PTRs, a single-sheet integrated end-to-end travel instrument (TI) template (1000A) populated with an official boarding pass identifier (BPID) (1209) issued by one of a plurality of disparate travel host systems (JTHSs) (1501, 1502, . . . , 150Y) for a respective leg. Each TI template comprising an emulated boarding pass barcode (1211) associated with the BPID for the respective leg, and for N checked-in luggage items for the respective passenger, populated with X temporary luggage tag identifiers (LTIDs) (1231A, 1233A) linked to up to X official bag tag identifiers (BTIDs) (1209) from the JTHS of the leg, wherein X and N are integers. There is a one-to-one correspondence between the LTIDs and BTIDs.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation application U.S. application Ser. No.16/678,204, Nov. 8, 2019 and claims the benefit of U.S. ProvisionalApplication No. 62/758,372, filed Nov. 9, 2018, each titled “INTEGRATEDEND-TO-END TRAVEL INSTRUMENT (TI) DEVICE GENERATION SYSTEM ANDINTEGRATED TRAVEL INSTRUMENT DEVICES” and incorporated herein byreference in their entireties.

BACKGROUND

Embodiments relate to travel systems and, specifically, an integratedend-to-end travel instrument device generation system and an integratedtravel instrument device.

Currently, the travel industry processes well over a million passengersper day for thousands of daily flights. As a result, individuals canhave long lines at the airline check-in desks to obtain boarding passesand check-in bags. To further complicate matters, many travelers arriveat the airport from cruises, hotels, conventions, etc. Baggage ofpassengers sometimes gets lost due to the inaccurate routing of thebags.

Thousands of passengers checking into airports at one time create aninflux on ticket counters at once. Thus, ticketing kiosks have beencreated to allow passengers to print a boarding pass in a self-servicefashion to divert some of the passenger traffic from the check-in desks.The task of printing boarding passes and luggage tags can be even moreof a challenge by limited personnel available on a cruise ship.

SUMMARY

Embodiments relate to an integrated end-to-end travel instrumentgeneration system with boarding pass and luggage tag devices on anintegrated travel instrument sheet. The embodiments relate to computerreadable medium for the generation of the instrument devices. An aspectof the embodiments includes a system comprising, a local check-inend-to-end passenger travel reservation (PTR) tool comprising agraphical user interface (GUI) displayed on a display device. The localchock-in end-to-end PTR tool configured to: upload a plurality ofend-to-end PTRs, each associated with at least one of a plurality ofpassengers identified in a travel manifest file, display a listcomprising the plurality of end-to-end PTRs and a plurality of travelreservation statuses associated with a plurality of disparate journeytravel host systems (JTHSs), and receive a batch user selection of afirst set of passengers of said plurality of passengers for localcheck-in. The system includes a webserver comprising one or moreprocessors configured to generate a passenger journey document file(PJDF) comprising one or more of said plurality of end-to-end PTRs foreach of one of said first set of passengers. The PJDF includes, for eachrespective travel leg of said one or more of said plurality ofend-to-end PTRs, a populated single-sheet integrated end-to-end travelinstrument (TI) template populated with an official boarding passidentifier (BPID) for said respective one of said first set ofpassengers issued by a corresponding one of said plurality of disparateJTHSs associated with said respective travel leg. Each TI templatefurther comprising an emulated boarding pass barcode associated with theofficial BPID for said respective travel leg, and for N checked-inluggage items of the for said respective one of said first set ofpassengers, populated with X temporary luggage tag identifiers (LTID)linked to up to X retrieved official bag tag identifiers (BTIDs) issuedby the JTHS of the respective travel leg, wherein X is a non-zerointeger number, N is an integer number. There is a one-to-onecorrespondence between the LTIDs and the BTIDs. The one or moreprocessors configured to update the travel reservation status in the GUIto reflect that the generated PJDF is ready for said respective one ofthe first set of passengers; and generate a master PJDF including thePJDF for each of the first set of passengers. The first set ofpassengers is representative of a local check-in request at a localclient device for subsequent computer-assisted generation of integratedend-to-end TI devices using the generated master PJDF applied to a setof single-sheet integrated media.

An aspect of the embodiments include a non-transitory, tangible computerreadable storage media having stored thereon instructions which, whenexecuted by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to:generate a passenger journey document file (PJDF) of an end-to-endpassenger travel reservation (PTR) comprising one or more travel legsfor a remotely checked-in passenger of a plurality of passengers in atravel manifest file. The PJDF includes, for each of the one or moretravel legs, a populated single-sheet integrated end-to-end travelinstrument (TI) template populated with an official boarding passidentifier (BPID) issued by a journey travel host system (JTHS)associated with the corresponding travel leg, an emulated boarding passbarcode associated with the official BPID for the corresponding travelleg, and for each of one or more checked-in luggage item of therespective one passenger, a temporary luggage tag identifier (LTID)linked to up to a retrieved official bag tag identifier (BTIDs) issuedby the JTHS associated with the corresponding travel leg. Theinstructions to cause the processors to update a travel reservationstatus to reflect the generated PJDF is ready for the remotelychecked-in passenger; receive a batch selection identifying at least onepassenger of the plurality of passengers and a plurality of end-to-endpassenger travel reservations (PTRs) each associated with one or more ofthe at least one passenger of the plurality of passengers identified bythe batch selection; and generate a master PJDF including the PJDF foreach of the at least one passenger of the plurality of passengersidentified by the batch selection, the batch selection beingrepresentative of a local check-in request at a local client device forsubsequent computer-assisted generation of one or more integratedend-to-end TI devices using the generated master PJDF applied to a setof single-sheet integrated media.

Another aspect of the embodiments includes a method comprising providinga local check-in end-to-end passenger travel reservation (PTR) toolcomprising a graphical user interface (GUI) displayed on a displaydevice. The local check-in end-to-end PTR tool configured to: upload aplurality of end-to-end PTRs, each associated with at least one of aplurality of passengers identified in a travel manifest file, display alist comprising the plurality of end-to-end PTRs and a plurality oftravel reservation statuses associated with a plurality of disparatejourney travel host systems (JTHSs), and receive a batch user selectionof a first set of passengers of said plurality of passengers for localcheck-in. The method includes generating, by a webserver, a passengerjourney document file (PJDF) comprising one or more of said plurality ofend-to-end PTRs for each of one of said first set of passengers. ThePJDF including, for each respective travel leg of said one or more ofsaid plurality of end-to-end PTRs, a populated single-sheet integratedend-to-end travel instrument (TI) template populated with an officialboarding pass identifier (BPID) for said respective one of said firstset of passengers issued by a corresponding one of said plurality ofdisparate JTHSs associated with said respective travel leg. Each TItemplate further comprises an emulated boarding pass barcode associatedwith the official BPID for said respective travel leg, and for Nchecked-in luggage items of the for said respective one of said firstset of passengers, populated with X temporary luggage tag identifiers(LTID) linked to up to X retrieved official bag tag identifiers (BTIDs)issued by the JTHS of the respective travel leg, wherein X is a non-zerointeger number, N is an integer number. There is a one-to-onecorrespondence between the LTIDs and the BTIDs. The method includesupdating, by the webserver, the travel reservation status in the GUI toreflect that the generated PJDF is ready for said respective one of thefirst set of passengers; and generating, by the webserver, a master PJDFincluding the PJDF for each of the first set or passengers. The firstset of passengers is representative of a local check-in request at alocal client device for subsequent computer-assisted generation ofintegrated end-to-end TI devices using the generated master PJDF appliedto a set of single-sheet integrated media.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

A more particular description briefly stated above will be rendered byreference to specific embodiments thereof that are illustrated in theappended drawings. Understanding that these drawings depict only typicalembodiments and are not therefore to be considered to be limiting of itsscope, the embodiments will be described and explained with additionalspecificity and detail through the use of the accompanying drawings inwhich:

FIG. 1A illustrates a block diagram of a travel instrument generationsystem;

FIG. 1B illustrates a block diagram of a packet representative of apassenger journey packet;

FIG. 2 illustrates a method for travel instrument data generation by atleast one webserver;

FIG. 3 illustrates flowchart for a process for creating a passengerdocument file for one or more passengers (PAX);

FIG. 4 illustrates a flowchart of a method for retrieving or calling astored integrated travel instrument (TI) template;

FIG. 5 illustrates a process for reconciliation of a passenger (PAX)record;

FIG. 6 illustrates a process for associating the boarding pass with oneor more luggage tags in the passenger document file for a passenger(PAX);

FIGS. 7A-7B illustrate a flowchart fire process for drawing theintegrated travel instrument (TI) compatible with the template;

FIG. 8 illustrates a process for building the boarding pass for theintegrated TI template;

FIG. 9 illustrates a process for building a luggage tag for theintegrated TI template;

FIG. 10A illustrates a front side of an integrated travel instrumenttemplate;

FIG. 10B illustrates a back side of an integrated single-sheet medium;

FIG. 10C illustrates integrated travel instrument devices on asingle-sheet integrated medium;

FIG. 10D illustrates a cross-sectional view of a short side of theintegrated TI device;

FIG. 10E illustrates a cross-sectional view of a short side of theintegrated TI device;

FIG. 11 illustrates a block diagram of a computing device;

FIG. 12A illustrates a first example of integrated travel instrumentdevices on a single-sheet integrated medium;

FIG. 12B illustrates a second example of integrated travel instrumentdevices on a single-sheet integrated medium;

FIG. 12C illustrates a third example of integrated travel instrumentdevices on a single-sheet integrated medium;

FIG. 13 illustrates a graphical user interface (GUI) for accessinglocation and event; and

FIG. 14A illustrates a GUI for managing local check-in, boarding passand bag tag generation;

FIG. 14B illustrates a set of control icons associated with the GUI ofFIG. 14A;

FIG. 15 illustrates a flowchart of a method for collecting passengerinformation for an end-to-end journey during a remote check-in period;and

FIGS. 16A-16C illustrate a flowchart for generating integratedend-to-end travel instruments during a remote check-in period.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Embodiments are described herein with reference to the attached figures.The figures are not drawn to scale and they are provided merely toillustrate aspects disclosed herein. Several disclosed aspects aredescribed below with reference to non-limiting example applications forillustration. It should be understood that numerous specific details,relationships, and methods are set forth to provide a full understandingof the embodiments disclosed herein. One having ordinary skill in therelevant art, however, will readily recognize that the disclosedembodiments may be practiced without one or more of the specific detailsor with other methods. In other instances, well-known structures oroperations are not shown in detail to avoid obscuring aspects disclosedherein. The embodiments are not limited by the illustrated ordering ofacts or events, as some acts may occur in different orders and/orconcurrently with other acts or events. Furthermore, not all illustratedacts or events are required to implement a methodology in accordancewith the embodiments.

Notwithstanding that the numerical ranges and parameters setting forththe broad scope are approximations, the numerical values set forth inspecific non-limiting examples are reported as precisely as possible.Any numerical value, however, inherently contains certain errorsnecessarily resulting from the standard deviation found in theirrespective testing measurements. Moreover, all ranges disclosed hereinare to be understood to encompass any and all sub-ranges subsumedtherein. For example, a range of “less than 10” can include any and allsub-ranges between (and including) the minimum value of zero and themaximum value of 10, that is, any and all sub-ranges having a minimumvalue of equal to or greater than zero and a maximum value of equal toor less than 10, e.g., 1 to 4.

The embodiments herein include a system to generate integratedend-to-end travel instrument (TI) devices using at least onesingle-sheet integrated medium. The integrated end-to-end TI devicesincludes at least one boarding pass instrument associated with at leastone leg of travel on at least one Travel Host System (THS). Theintegrated end-to-end TI devices may include on a single-sheetintegrated medium one boarding pass instrument. If the passenger willcheck-in luggage items with the THS, then the single-sheet integrated TImedium may produce up to X attachable luggage tag identifier (LTID)devices wherein each attachable luggage tag device is configured to beseparated from other luggage tag devices and the boarding passinstrument device so that each luggage device can be selectivelyattached to a respective one luggage item associated with a passengerfor check-in with the THS.

A passenger may embark on multiple legs of travel such as by changing atravel vehicle at least once from a beginning or departure end to adestination end. For example, the integrated end-to-end TI devices mayrequire a second single-sheet integrated TI medium to provide a secondboarding pass instrument for a second leg of travel either using adifferent travel vehicle associated with the same THS or a differenttravel vehicle associated with a different THS. Thus, the integratedend-to-end TI device includes THS specific boarding pass instruments.

Furthermore, the integrated end-to-end TI devices may include, within orin proximity to the boarding pass instrument, at least one official bagtag identifier (BTID) associated with a THS. The at least one officialBTID corresponds to at least one LTID associated with the at least oneluggage tag device. In other words, if a passenger has one luggage itemto be checked-in, the integrated end-to-end TI devices may include aboarding pass instrument for the THS on the first leg of travel; anofficial BUD printed within or in proximity to the boarding passinstrument and a luggage tag device with an LTID corresponding to andlinked to the official BTID. The LTID may be used for temporary trackingof luggage items from a departure point to check-in of the luggage itemwith another THS. Thereafter, the THS may change the temporary luggagetag device and replace such temporary luggage tag device with anofficial bag tag to further track the luggage item along at least oneleg of travel by the THS issuing the BTID. If the departure point is acruise ship for example, the cruise ship is a THS wherein the passengerdisembarks upon completion of the cruise for another leg of travel. Forairline-type THS, a check-in period is established. For example,reservations may not be checked-in until 24 hours or less beforedeparture on a flight.

The THS may be an airline. However, some flights from departure-end ofthe flight to the destination-end of the flight may include more thanone aircraft vehicle. Thus, for a non-stop flight, the integratedend-to-end TI devices would include a boarding pass for a single flight.For a one-stop flight, the integrated end-to-end TI devices wouldinclude a first boarding pass instrument, for the first flight and asecond boarding pass instrument for the second flight. Still further,for M-stop flights, the integrated end-to-end TI devices may include upto M+1 boarding pass instrument devices. Each boarding pass instrumentmay be printed on a different single-sheet integrated medium to form aboarding pass instrument device for each leg of travel.

In other embodiments, a leg of travel may include a different mode oftravel such as train, bus, or cruise.

FIG. 1A illustrates a block diagram of a travel instrument generationsystem 100. The system 100 may include at least one of a travelinformation extractor sub-system 101 and a travel instrument (TI)generator sub-system 104. The travel information extractor sub-system101 may include at least one webserver 102 with a webserver applicationrunning thereon. The travel information extractor sub-system 101 may beconfigured to extract passenger travel information being streamed fromeach Travel Host System (THS) of a plurality of THSs 150 ¹, 150 ², . . ., 150 ^(Y) wherein Y is a non-zero integer number. Each THS of theplurality of THSs 150 ¹, 150 ², . . . , 150 ^(Y) may be an independentcompany such as an airline, cruise line, bus line, train line. Each THSmay be a different type of travel company. For example, the plurality ofTHSs 150 ¹, 150 ², . . . , 150 ^(Y) may include a plurality of airlines,a plurality of cruise lines, a plurality of train lines, and a pluralityof bus lines. Furthermore, the plurality of THSs 150 ¹, 150 ², . . . ,150 ^(Y) may include travel or transport companies providing autonomoustravel services such as by self-driving vehicles. Each THS of theplurality of THSs 150 ¹, 150 ², . . . , 150 ^(Y) may have a THSidentifier (ID) or THS company ID. The travel information extractorsub-system 101 may receive a manifest file 10 from the event travel hostsystem (ETHS). The manifest file 10 may include passenger reservationsarranged in a list, wherein the passenger reservations are associatedwith at least one journey travel host system (JTHS). The travelinformation extractor sub-system 101 may initiate a remote check-inprocess with the JTHS (i.e., Travel Host System of the plurality of THSs150 ¹, 150 ², . . . , 150 ^(Y)) of one or more passengers in themanifest file 10. The travel information extractor sub-system 101 mayextract from the manifest file passenger information and JTHSinformation to initiate check-in request 190. The term THS and JTHS maybe used interchangeably herein. The host check-in (HCI) system 140 mayreceive the same manifest file 10 associated with the ETHS. In someembodiments, the communications from the travel information extractorsub-system 101 to the travel instrument (TI) generator sub-system 104may be one-way. In some embodiments, the communications between thetravel information extractor sub-system 101 and the travel instrument(TI) generator sub-system 104 may be two-way.

The TI generator sub-system 104 may include website 110 having one ormore webservers 112 with a webserver application 114 running thereon. Ingeneral, the webserver application 114 may be configured to provide oneor more graphical user interfaces (GUIs) 116 sometimes referred to aswebpage(s), for entering data and initiating and performing one or moreprocesses described herein below.

The one or more webservers 112 may be coupled to one or more datastorage devices 118 and cloud 120. The cloud 120 may store data, tablesand databases therein. The cloud 120 may store instructions for carryingout the processes and methods described herein for generating anintegrated end-to-end travel instrument (TI) device and displaying theGUIs as the user interface to the webserver and/or one or more clientside computing devices 142. The client-side computing device 142 mayalso be referred to as a host check-in (HCI) system 140. The one or moredata storage devices 118 may store information associated travel hostsystem (THSs) 150 ¹, 150 ², . . . , 150 ^(Y) and store one or moreintegrated travel instrument (TI) templates 124 customized and formattedfor each respective one Travel Host System (THS). The integrated TItemplates 124 may be configured to be populated with boarding pass inassociated with a THS and, if required, official bag tag identifiers.The templates 124 may include temporary luggage tag information withluggage tag barcodes and temporary luggage tag identifiers.

The travel information extractor sub system 101 may include one or moredata storage memory devices 103 which may store and track the boardingpass identifier (BPID) 162 of at least one THS of the plurality of THSs150 ¹, 150 ², . . . , 150 ^(Y), for a passenger and correspondingofficial bag tag identifier (BTID) generated by the THS for eachpassenger's luggage item to be checked-in. The travel informationextractor sub-system 101 may include a temporary luggage tag identifier(LTID) generator 105 configured to generate a temporary LTID. The travelinformation extractor sub-system 101 may include a BM extractor 106configure to extract a BPID communicated in a data stream from the THSof the plurality of THSs 150 ¹, 150 ², . . . , 150 ^(Y). The travelinformation extractor sub-system 101 may include a BPID extractor 107configure to extract a BTID communicated in a data stream from the THSof the plurality of THSs 150 ¹, 150 ², . . . , 150 ^(Y). The travelinformation extractor sub-system 101 may include a BTID/LTID linker 108configured to link the temporary LTID with the official bag tagidentifier (BTID) 164 and stored in memory 103. The travel informationextractor sub-system 101 may include a check-in communication generator(CICG) 109.

The one or more webservers 112 may comprise one or more processors(i.e., 1152 of FIG. 11) configured to receive, from a host check-in(HCI) system 140, at least one passenger identification (PAXID) 132designated for local check-in. The HCI system 140 may use GUI 1400 (FIG.14A) to select one or more passengers for a local reservation check-inand generate a check-in communication to the webservers 112 having atleast the PAXID 132 and the number N of luggage items (#Bags) 134, ifappropriate. The communication from the HCI system 140 and the webserver112 may be compatible with an extensible markup language (XML) schemavia the one or more GUIs. The number N may be an alphanumeric value.

Each PAXID 132 may be associated with a passenger, a travel host system(THS) of a plurality of THSs 150 ¹, 150 ², . . . , 150 ^(Y) and, ifappropriate, a number N of luggage items (#Bags) 134 for the passenger,during an online session, as will be discussed in more detail inrelation to FIG. 14A. The one or more webservers 112 may receive anumber N of luggage. items (bags) 134 associated with each PAXID 132,during an online session between the one or more webservers 112 and therespective one client-side computing devices 142 communicating thenumber N of luggage items.

FIG. 1B illustrates a block diagram of a passenger journey packet 170 ofa selected batch including passenger information such as, withoutlimitation a passenger identification (PAXID) 132. The packet 170 mayinclude a field for a last name 174 and first name 176 of the passenger.The packet 170 may include at least one journey information group 177 ¹.The packet 170 may include a plurality of journey information groups 177¹ . . . 177 ^(Z) wherein Z is a non-zero integer number. Each journeyinformation group 177 ¹ . . . 177 ^(Z) may include a field for anairline 178 or company name or identifier of a THS of the plurality ofTHSs 150 ¹, 150 ², . . . , 150 ^(Y). The journey information groups 177¹ . . . 177 ^(Z) of the packet 170 may include a field for a flightnumber 180. In lieu of a flight number 180, a train number, bus numberor ship number may be used for a train-type THS, bus type THS orship-type THS, respectively. The journey information groups 177 ¹ . . .177 ^(Z) of the packet 170 may include a time and date information 182associated with the flight number 180 or, in other embodiments, thetrain number, bus number or ship number. The journey information groups177 ¹ . . . 177 ^(Z) of the packet 170 may include a fieldrepresentative of journey locations 184. The “journey locations” mayprovide information representative of a departure location to adestination location. In some embodiments, the departure location anddestination location may use city codes, state codes, airport codes,train station codes, bus station codes, and cruise station codes. Ingeneral, the journey information group 177 ¹ of the packet 170 mayinclude the number # of bags 134 the passenger intends to check-in withthe THS of the plurality of THSs 150 ¹, 150 ², . . . , 150 ^(Y).

In some embodiments, the number N of luggage items may include aninteger number including zero. In other embodiments, the data entryfield for entering the number N of luggage items may remain blank whenthe number N of luggage items is zero (0). Thus, the number N of luggageitems may include a value of “Null” representative of zero (0) luggageitems. Thus “Null” and zero may be used interchangeably herein.

The one or more webservers 112 may be configured to cause, in responseto receiving each packet 170 having the PAXID 132 the travel informationextractor sub-system 101 to check-in each passenger with theirrespective THS. The one or more webservers 102 may communicate with theone or more webserver 112 of travel instrument (TI) generator sub-system104.

Referring again to FIG. 1A, the webserver 102 of the travel informationextractor sub-system 101 sends a remote check-in communication to theTHS to receive the boarding pass identifier 162 and, if needed, theofficial bag tag identifier 164 of a passenger having been checked-inwith the THS. The webserver 102 of the travel information extractorsub-system 101 may receive and extract passenger information from atleast one stream of data originating from at least one THS. Theinformation may be extracted by the BPID extractor 106 and the BTIDextractor 107 of the webserver 102. The boarding pass identifier (BPID)162 may include a different BPID 162 for each leg of travel. The one ormore webservers 102 may be configured to receive, such as withoutlimitation, from the Departure Control Systems (DCS) 154 of the THS ofthe plurality of THSs 150 ¹, 150 ², . . . , 150 ^(Y), associated withthe passenger, a print stream including original bag tag identifiers(BTIDs) 164 for the number N of luggage items, when the number N of theluggage items is greater than zero. The number N is an integer. Forexample, the official BTID 164 is linked to at least one boarding passidentifier 162 for a passenger associated with the PAXID 132. TheBTID/LTID linker 108 may be configured to link one set of BTIDs, LTIDsand at least one BPID together for each passenger may be saved as apassenger record in memory 103. In some instances, the passenger recordwill not have any BTIDs and LTIDs.

The one or more webservers 112 of the travel instrument (TI) generatorsub-system 104 may be configured to generate a passenger journeydocument file (PJDF) 160 by retrieving the passenger record with theBPID(s), BTID(s) and LTID(s) created by the travel information extractorsub-system 101.

After retrieving the passenger record, the one or more webservers 112may be configured to populate, for each received PAXID 132 or passenger,a first corresponding integrated travel instrument (TI) template 124stored in one of the data storage devices 118. The TI template 124 maycomprise a single-sheet integrated document format with boarding passinformation corresponding to the official BPID 162 of the issuing THS togenerate a boarding pass in the TI template 124 and, if required, atleast one official BTID of the issuing THS. The one or more webservers112 may populate the integrated TI template 124 with luggage taginformation for at least one LTID linked to the at least one officialBTID of the issuing THS. The number of LTIDs to be formed on asingle-sheet of the TI template 124 corresponds to a number X of thegenerated LTIDs to form a first set of up to the number X temporaryluggage tags in the TI template 124. The number X is an integer andcorresponds to a maximum number of luggage tag sections in the TItemplate 124. The luggage tag designated sections will be described inmore detail in relation to FIGS. 10A-10B.

The one or more webservers 112 may be configured to generate at leastone communication to the host check-in system 140 from the webserverwith the (PJDF) 160. Each communication may comprise a passenger journeydocument file (PJDF) 160 being associated with a respective one receivedPAXID 132 created based on a populated first TI template associated withthe THS. The integrated end-to-end passenger journey document file mayinclude at least one supplemental TI template for additional LTIDs forthe respective one PAXID 132. On the other hand, the integratedend-to-end passenger journey document file may include a first sheetwith a first boarding pass information for a first leg of travel and atleast one supplemental sheet for at least one supplemental boarding passfor at least one supplemental leg of travel. In some embodiments, theintegrated end-to-end passenger journey document file may be devoid ofany luggage tags. In some embodiments, the integrated end-to-endpassenger journey document file may include a first sheet with a firstboarding pass information for a first leg of travel and at least onesupplemental sheet for additional temporary luggage tags. The TItemplate for each boarding pass may be based on the THS associated witheach different leg of travel.

The webserver 112 may be configured to populate, for each received PAXID132, at least one supplemental integrated TI template with the luggagetag information corresponding to remaining LTIDs received to formremaining temporary luggage tags. Each supplemental integrated TItemplate may be populated with up to the number X of the formed luggagetags corresponding to the remaining LTIDs received, The passengerjourney document file associated with the respective one received PAXID132 may further include the at least one populated supplementalintegrated TI template 124.

The number X is a function of the number of luggage tag sections forcreating luggage tag devices (FIG. 10C) associated with the integratedend-to-end travel instrument (TI) devices 1000C. For example, if theintegrated end-to-end TI devices 1000C may include one luggage tagdevice. In other embodiments, the integrated end-to-end TI devices 1000Cmay include two luggage tag devices, as best seen in FIG. 10C. In stillfurther embodiments, the integrated end-to-end TI devices 1000C mayinclude three or more luggage tag devices. If a passenger has more thanthe number of X luggage items, then when printing the TI devices 1000C,first TI devices 1000C are printed with the formatted luggage tagassociated with the LTIDs for the first number of X luggage items andsecond TI devices 1000C are printed with luggage tags associated withthe LTIDs for any remaining luggage items up to a second number of Xluggage items. In operation, the one or more webservers 112 determinethe number of Z BPID 162 of the respective one passenger reservation foran end-to-end journey, a page count based on at least one of the numberZ of BPIDs, the number N of the BTIDs/LTIDs and the number X of themaximum number of luggage tag sections in the integrated TI template 124for producing integrated end-to-end travel instrument devices on one ormore single-sheet integrated media.

in some embodiments, any luggage tag sections not required may haveprinted a customized statement. Likewise, if a second sheet may beneeded for a second boarding pass, but X or less LTIDs are provided.then those unpopulated luggage tag sections on the second sheet may havea customized statement to indicate the tag sections may be discarded.

Still further, a second (supplemental) sheet may be used for up to Xadditional LTIDs without the need for a second (supplemental) sheet.Thus, the boarding pass section may have a customized statement toindicate that the unpopulated boarding pass section may be discarded.The term “unpopulated” as used herein denotes a section which does notinclude passenger travel identifiers such as a boarding pass identifieror luggage tag identifier mapped to a section. However, an unpopulatedsection may however include statements or instructions representative toconvey that such sections may be blank, can be discarded, can bedetached from other populated sections or unused.

The one or more webservers 112 may be configured to generate acommunication to a host check-in (HCI) system 140 which includes thepopulated single integrated travel instrument template 124 for each pageof the page count associated with each PAXID 132. In some instances, apassenger may have no luggage items. An event site may be a hotel orcruise ship for example, being sometimes referred to as an event THS.However, the end-to-end journey may still require at least one boardingpass instrument device. Thus, the boarding pass section on thesingle-sheet integrated medium would be populated with the boarding passinformation according to the THS format with the official boarding passidentifier and emulated boarding pass barcode. The journey may include ajourney THS, such as an airline, corresponding to a leg of travel froman event THS.

The received communication from the host-check-in (HCI) system 140 maysend a selection of a plurality of PAXID 132 selected as a group usingGUI 1400 accessed through the webserver 112, during an online session,for local check-in. Thus, the webserver 112 may be further configured toreceive the group of the plurality of PAXIDs 132. Each PAXID 132 may beassociated with the same THS of the plurality of THSs 150 ¹, 150 ², . .. , 150 ^(Y). Thus, at least one travel information extractor sub-system101 may monitor a data stream of each respective THS of the plurality ofTHSs 150 ¹, 150 ², . . . , 150 ^(Y) in order to receive the streams ofthe BPID 162 and/or each official bag tag identifier (BTID) 164. Thewebserver 112 of travel instrument (TI) generator sub-system 104 orother processor may retrieve the stored BPI 162, passenger informationand each LTID 164 of a luggage item to be checked-in for use in thegeneration of the integrated end-to-end travel instrument.

Accordingly, the at least one communication comprising the correspondingpassenger journey document file (PJDF) 160 of each PAXID 132 in thegroup of the plurality of PAXIDs may be sent to the corresponding oneHCI system 140.

In some embodiments, upon selection of one or more passengers via theGUI 1400 (FIG. 14A), the host check-in system 140 may communicate thepassenger journey packet 170 to the website 110 wherein the packet 170may be based on the passenger travel record for each selected passenger.In some embodiments, upon selection of one or more passengers via theGUI 1400 (FIG. 14A), the passenger journey packet 170 may be generatedby the website 110 so that webserver 102 may communicate with thejourney THS to check-in the selected passenger(s). In some embodiments,the website 110 may receive remote check-in passenger information via anapplication programming interface (API) from the travel informationextractor sub-system 101. Furthermore, in some embodiments, the receivedremote check-in passenger information may be stored until the localcheck-in request is received from the host check-in system 140.Therefore, the GUI 400 may be updated to reflect the status of the PJDF160 is on the display device when the PJDF file status changes.

The travel information extractor sub-system 101 may be configured toextract from the stream the BPID 162 from the THS of the plurality ofTHSs 150 ¹, 150 ², . . . , 150 ^(Y). The travel information extractorsub-system 101 may be configured to extract travel departure and arrivalinformation related to the event sites. The webserver 112 of the travelinstrument (TI) generator sub-system 104 may be configured to look-up astored unpopulated integrated TI template 124 associated with the THS ofthe plurality of THSs 150 ¹, 150 ², . . . , 150 ^(Y) in a templatedatabase, based on the THS identifier. In some embodiments, theintegrated TI template 124 may be a default template. If differentTravel Host Systems of the plurality of THSs 150 ¹, 150 ², . . . , 150^(Y) are required for the end-to-end journey, then the integrated TItemplate for each different THS may be looked up and populated in adifferent single-sheet integrated medium such that there may be aone-to-one correspondence between a single-sheet integrated medium and aboarding pass instrument. The travel instrument (TI) generatorsub-system 140 may include a communications database 122 havinginstructions or program code for establishing communications with thetravel information extractor sub-system 101 and the transfer of datatherebetween.

When, the integrated TI template 124 is populated with the boarding passinformation related to the received BPID and up to the number X luggagetags associated with the received LTIDs on a first side of a singlepage. Hence, the webserver 112 may be configured to retrieve customborder information and identify a designating area of a second side ofthe integrated TI template 124 for populating the customer borderinformation. The webserver may be configured to populate the second sideof the integrated TI template 124 with the custom border information inthe designated area of the second side. The webserver may be configuredto autonomously create a portable document format (PDF) or otherimage-based text format file from the populated integrated TI template124 wherein the formed boarding pass comprises a barcode readable by thecorresponding THS of the plurality of THSs 150 ¹, 150 ², . . . , 150^(Y) and being associated and/or linked with the BPID 162.

The system 100, after receiving data streams from THS of the pluralityof THSs 150 ¹, 150 ², . . . , 150 ^(Y), may generate or build a standardbarcode boarding pass (BCBP) to support the PECTAB specifications.(PECTAB refers to a parametric table). The passengers will be able toprovide the barcode boarding pass printed on the integrated end-to-endTI devices 1000C (FIG. 10C) at the point of departure (POD), forsubsequent scanning when boarding the vehicle. of transportation, suchas an airplane, bus, train or cruise ship. While the description hereinfor illustrative purposes the THS of the plurality of THSs 150 ¹, 150 ²,. . . , 150 ^(Y) is related to airline systems, barcode boarding passes(BCBP) are also used in other modes of travel (bus, train, and cruiseship) for which a passenger may have luggage to be checked-in andtracked during travel to a destination.

All airlines have a set procedure for the timing of certain events forchecking in of passengers or by passengers in advance of flightdeparture. The airline procedures may include restrictions on when theearliest time for check-in may be, when security checks must beperformed, when a bag tag can be printed, latest check-in, etc. Bycollecting reservation information one day or more in advance of apassenger's departure date, the system 100 will emulate one or more ofthe airline procedures or THS procedures in a remote environment. Thesystem 100 may be configured to automatically perform automaticcheck-in, luggage tag deletion/reconciliation, security verification,boarding pass “printing,” and luggage tag identifier “printing.”Additionally, other transportation companies have timing procedures forcheck-in or pre-check.

The system 100 may include a plurality of blank integrated end-to-endtravel instrument (TI) devices 146 for use by the HCI system 140. Eachblank integrated end-to-end TI device 146 may be configured to haveprinted thereon a corresponding one leg of travel associated with a THS.The blank integrated end-to-end TI device 146 may include a boardingpass designated section for populating the official BPID 162 of therespective one passenger associated with the PAXID and building anemulated boarding pass within the section as defined in the integratedTI template 124 according to a customized THS emulated format. Thecustomized THS format may include THS derived emulating parameters forthe creation or an emulated boarding pass through the creation of aboarding pass instrument. The boarding pass instrument includes anemulated bar code recognizable by the THS issuing the official BPID 162.

In system 100, the client-side HCI system 140 may comprise a computingdevice 142 coupled to a printer device 144 or peripheral device viawireless or wired connection. The computing device 142 is describedbelow in relation to FIG. 11. The printer device 144 may be a laser-jetprinter or other printer types. The client-side HCI system 140 receivesthe populated integrated TI template formatted into a passenger journeydocument file (PJDF) 160. The passenger journey document file (PJDF) 160may be printed on at least one integrated TI device 146 configured topass through the printer device 144 to print alphanumeric data, logos,barcodes, images, and/or symbols thereon. Each leg of travel for theend-to-end journey may require a different official BPID. Therefore,each different BPID instrument requires its own integrated TI device 146for printing an official BPID and corresponding emulated bar coderecognizable by the issuing THS.

A passenger may be part of a travel group such as a couple, family, etc.which share a single travel reservation. The system 100 may be designedto expedite document generation for the barcode boarding pass andluggage tag identifier.

The website 110 may store the PJDF information 121 corresponding to thepassenger journey document file (PJDF) and/or passenger recordassociated with the PAXID 132 in a data storage device. The PAXinformation 121 may also include the number N of luggage items. The PAXinformation 121 may also include the received official BPIDs 162 andreceived LTID. Some passengers (PAX) may have multiple official BPIDs tocomplete the end-to-end journey.

The website 110 may store a plurality of integrated TI templates 124 ina data storage device. Each integrated TI template 124 may be associatedwith different templates associated with a company's (THS) record. Thewebsite 110 may store a default integrated TI template. The website 110may include instructions stored in a data storage device correspondingto a boarding pass (BP) instrument generator 125. The website 110 mayinclude instructions stored in a data storage device corresponding to atemporary luggage tag (LT) generator 126. The website 110 may includeinstructions stored in a data storage device corresponding to apassenger journey document file (PJDF) generator 123. For example, thewebserver 112 may send one or more PJDFs 160, for one or morepassengers, to a respective one HCI system 140 based on a batchselection from the respective one HCI system. For example, if anoperator using GUI 1400 wants to print one passenger journey documentfile, the operator would select a corresponding passenger row which canthen be printed, provided the passenger journey document file isindicated as available.

The travel information extractor sub-system 101 may include instructionsstored in a data storage device to monitor, extract and/or receive apassenger's journey information (i.e., official BPID and official BTID)associated with the PAXID. The passenger's journey information mayinclude at least one official BPID. The passenger's journey informationmay include no bag tag identifiers. In other instances, the passenger'sjourney information may also include at least one official bag tagidentifier (BTID), if generated by the travel information extractorsub-system 101.

The extracted official BPIDs for all passengers may be stored in memory103 and/or in the database with the PAX information 121 at webserver112. The travel information extractor sub-system 101 may be configuredto generate a temporary luggage tag identifier (LTID) for each officialBTID and stored in memory 103, such that there is a one-to-onecorrespondence between a temporary LTID and an official BTID of anissuing THS. The travel information extractor sub-system 101 links thetemporary LTID and the official BTID together wherein the boarding pass(BP) instrument generator 125 may also populate the official BTID.Hence, the integrated end-to-end travel instrument (TI) device for a oneleg of travel will include an official BPID, emulated boarding passbarcode, and up to X LTIDs having a one-to-one correspondence with up toX official BTIDs. The official BTIDs may be applied to or near theboarding pass designation section of the integrated end-to-end travelinstrument (TI) device. The temporary LTIDs may be individually appliedto a designated one LTID designated section.

The travel instrument (TI) generator sub-system 104 retrieves thepassengers journey information including the passenger information, theofficial BPID of an issuing THS and if required, the one or moreofficial bag tag identifiers (BTID) of the issuing THS. The term“required” is intended to define the instance where the passengerincludes a luggage item that is required to be checked-in by the THSsuch as, without limitation, based on size, or will be checked-in by thepassenger. Therefore, in either instance, the THS may require anofficial BTID to track the checked-in luggage item during thepassenger's journey.

System 100 may allow the client-side computing device 142 to cause aprinter 144 or peripheral device to mass print a boarding pass and/orluggage tags in a created PDF file or other image-based text format filecontaining all of the selected passengers' documents in one printrequest. This may eliminate the need to sort and match traveldocumentation for a passenger. Matching the boarding pass with aseparate luggage tag is no longer required because both may be generatedon a single-sheet integrated medium. Eliminating the sorting andmatching tasks from thousands of passengers daily saves considerabletime not to mention minimizing human errors, by way of non-limitingexample, caused by mismatched boarding pass and luggage tags.

System 100 expedites the document generation required during travel modecheck in. Rather than printing a boarding pass and luggage tag for eachand every passenger disjointedly, the system 100 generates a master pagedocument format (PDF) file or other image-based text format filecontaining all of the selected passengers' documents or pages into asingle file for all selected passengers. The master PDF file generatedby the system 100 facilitates a bulk print or generation of thesepassenger documents/pages, which saves hours of labor. The passengerdocument file may comprise a single file with N/X rounded to the nextsequential integer including both a boarding pass and up to the number Xluggage tags, for a single boarding pass. The system 100 also determinesa boarding pass count, as described in relation to block 714 of FIG. 7A.The passenger document file may also include a single file whichincludes at least one additional page with additional luggage tags oradditional BPs when the number N is greater than the number X. Thenumber N corresponds to the number of luggage items to be checked-in.The number X is the maximum number of luggage tag sections on a singlesheet for printing the generated luggage tags.

The inventors have determined that the creation of an integrated travelinstrument rescues agents or personnel from the time-consuming practiceof manually matching luggage tag identifiers and boarding passes printedindividually for delivery to the customer for their eminent travel.This, in turn, may minimize the chance of a passenger getting anincorrect document or travel instruments.

The system's ability to perform bulk printing with a combination ofboarding pass and luggage tag identifiers on an integrated TI device 146significantly decreases the labor cost of naming check-in operations,while also, allowing larger passenger volumes to be handled with lesserror. Also, the use of laser-jet printers 144 to print the end-to-endtravel instruments may save thousands of dollars in the cost forspecial-purpose AEA printers. (AEA stands for the Association of EuropeAirlines). The printer 144 can be used for printing other documents orfiles other than boarding passes and luggage tags, unlike thespecial-purpose AEA printer.

The HCI system 140 will be provided with access to website 110 so thatthey may mass print boarding documents for passengers enrolled in aremote airline check-in program. Customers will receive their boardingpass instrument device and luggage tag devices on the integrated (TI)devices comprising in-part paper stock (i.e., single-sheet integratedmedium). The webserver 112 generates a boarding pass for each passengerthat complies with AEA standards for printing by the HCI system 140.

The official boarding pass identifier (BPID) 162 may be formed as an AEAcompliant print stream format. The data of the print stream receivedfrom the THS of the plurality of THSs 150 ², 150 ², . . . , 150 ^(Y) maybe used in an integrated TI template 124 to build a boarding pass whichis AEA compliant using the official BPID 162 with an emulated boardingpass barcode and, if required, build at least one luggage tag, as shownin relation to FIGS. 12A-12C.

As can be appreciated, one or more of the blocks of the processes ormethods described below may be performed in order shown or in adifferent order. One or more of the blocks may be omitted or blocks maybe added. Furthermore, one or more of the blocks may be performedcontemporaneously. One or more of the blocks in FIG. 2 may be performedby at least one of the travel information extractor sub-system 101, thetravel instrument (TI) generator sub-system 104, BTID/LTID linker 108and CICG 109. In some embodiments, one or more of the functions of thetravel information extractor sub-system 101, the travel instrument (TI)generator sub-system 104, BTID/LTID linker 108 and CICG 109 may beperformed by the other sub-system. In some embodiments, the travelinformation extractor sub-system 101 and the travel instrument (TI)generator sub-system 104 may be an integrated system.

FIG. 2 illustrates a method 200 for travel instrument data generation byat least one observer for a passenger. The method 200 of FIG. 2 isrepeated for each passenger requiring check-in for a journey using oneof the travel modes described herein. The method may comprise, at block210, receiving at least one passenger journey record for a passengerdesignated for check-in, each passenger journey record being associatedwith a passenger, PAXID 132, a journey or flight information, a travelhost system (THS) of a plurality of THSs 150 ¹, 150 ², . . . , 150 ^(Y)and a number N of luggage/bag items 134 to be checked-in for thepassenger, by at least one webserver 102 or 112. The at least onepassenger journey record may be from a manifest file 10. In someembodiments, the host check-in system 140 may communicate to the website110 to initiate a local check-in of one or more passengers from anuploaded travel manifest file 10. In other embodiments, the website 110may generate an automatic check-in of passengers based on a prior storedtravel manifest file 10. In other embodiments, the webserver 102 of thetravel information extractor sub-system 101 may generate a remotecheck-in of passengers initiated by the website 110 based on a priorstored travel manifest file 10. In still further embodiments, the hostcheck-in system 140 may communicate directly with the travel informationextractor sub system 101 to initiate a remote check-in request of thepassengers using the travel information extractor sub-system 101. TheCICG 109 may be configured to perform check-in process communications byestablishing a check-in or pre-check with the THS associated with apassenger. In response to the check-in communication, the streamed BPIDand/or BTIDs may be extracted from the return check-in communicationfrom the THS. In some embodiments, the travel information extractorsub-system 101 may receive the manifest file 10 from the event THSwithin a certain amount of time before passengers depart the location ofthe event THS, such as 24 hours before a flight leaves or otherincrement of time, such as the night before departure of the event THS.The travel information extractor sub-system 101 may then initiate aremote check-in request with each JTHS of those passengers in themanifest file having a reservation with the JTHS.

The method 200 may comprise, at block 211, causing, in response to acheck-in request, a Travel Reservation System (TRS) 152, a DepartureControl Systems (DCS) 154 or other designated system, associated withthe THS of the passenger, to generate and stream, to the webserver 102or 112, an official boarding pass identifier (BPID) 162 for a checked-inpassenger. The CICG 109 may generate a check-in request to acorresponding THS associated with a corresponding passenger record.Because, each passenger may be associated with a different THS, the CICG109 may generate a plurality of communications to each THS, for example,associated with a batch of selected passengers. At block 212, the method200 may comprise extracting each BPID, by the BPID extractor 106, for achecked-in passenger.

At block 213, the method 200 may determine if N is greater than zero. Ascan be appreciated based on the description herein the condition of Nmay include other criteria, such as N≠(not equal to zero), If thedetermination is “YES,” then the method 200 may comprise, at block 214causing the Departure Control system (DCS) 154 to generate a printstream of N official BTIDs 164 for N number of luggage items to bechecked-in by the passenger. At block 215, extracting, by the travelinformation extractor sub-system 101, the N official BTIDs 164 from theDeparture Control Systems (DCS) 154 of the issuing THS of the pluralityof THSs 150 ¹, 150 ², . . . , 150 ^(Y). At block 216, the method 200 maycomprise generating N LTIDs and linking each LTID to a BTID, whereinthere is a one to one correspondence with each BTID and linked LTID.

The TRS 152, DCS 154 or other designate system of the THS may providethe official BPID 162 upon check-in of the passenger within a certaintime period prior to departure, sometimes referred to as the check-inperiod which may be up to 24 hours prior to departure. Other timeperiods may be provided based on the airline and the travel prioritystatus of the passenger. The DCS 154 may provide the official BTID 164for each luggage items to be checked for the passenger. Nonetheless, theofficial BPID and BTID may be provided by a THS or some departmentassociated therein and should not be limited to a TRS 152 and/or the DCS154. If the journey includes more than one stop with a different THS, aboarding pass identifier may be generated by a different THS whereinchecking in the passenger may include communicating with all THS's for apassenger to obtain all the necessary boarding pass identifiers for theend-to-end travel journey.

The temporary luggage tag identifiers (LTID) for the number N of luggageitems, when the number N of the luggage items is greater than zero, aregenerated and linked to the BTIDs. The number N may be an integer. ThePAX information streamed by each THS may be stored in the database inmemory 103 at the travel information extractor sub-system 101. Theretrieved information may be used to populate the integrated travelinstrument (TI) template sheet by the travel instrument (TI) generatorsub-system 104.

Returning again to block 213, if the determination is “NO” meaning thatN is not greater than 0, then at block 218, the method 200 ends. If N is0 then the passenger has no bags to check-in and no luggage tags may beneeded. Thus, the luggage tag designated sections may have printed usinga message to indicate that the blank luggage tag devices may be detachedfrom the boarding pass instrument. In some instances, the message mayindicate that the blank luggage tag device may also be discarded. Othermessages may be used to convey instructions to the passenger or otherpersons to otherwise disregard the blank luggage tag devices.

Any unpopulated sections, such as the boarding pass designated sectionor the luggage tag designated section will be blank or printed with amessage, as shown in FIGS. 12A-12C.

A more detailed process for populating the integrated travel instrumenttemplate is described in detail below in relations to FIGS. 3-6, 7A-7B,8 and 9 wherein X is equal to 2.

FIG. 3 illustrates flowchart for a process 300 for creating a passengerdocument file for one or more passengers (PAX). When the process 300begins, the process 300 retrieves/calls the stored integrated template(FIG. 10A), at block 310. The process for retrieving or calling thestored integrated template will be described in relation to FIG. 4.

At block 312, the system starts a PDF or other image-based text formatfile generation for at least one passenger journey document file 160. Atblock 314, there is a loop process described below. At block 316, adetermination is made. If no more passengers (PAX) exists, the systemcloses the PDF or other image-based text format file, at block 318 andends the process 300. (The term “PAX” refers to a passenger.) If thereare more passengers, the system performs reconciliation on the recordusing the process of FIG. 5, at block 320. At block 322, the processgenerates the boarding pass with the official boarding pass identifier(BPID), the emulated boarding pass barcode of the THS and official bagtag identifier (BTID). The process may also generate a temporary luggagetag identifier (LTID) using the process of FIG. 6. Block 322 loops backto block 316 where, a determination is made as described above. This isrepeated for each selected passenger selected in a batch using GUI 1400(FIG. 14A) such as on a cruise intending to leave the ship. The terms“passenger” and “PAX” may be used interchangeably herein.

FIG. 4 illustrates a flowchart of a method 400 for retrieving, orcalling a stored integrated travel instrument (TI) template. The method400 from block 418 may return to process 300 of FIG. 3, described aboveand proceed to block 312. The method 400 may, at block 410, pull the THS(company) identifier (i.e., airline) via the PAXID and other data, asappropriate. At block 412, the method 400 may pull segment 1 which maybe the flight departure information via the PAXID. At block 414, themethod 400 queries the template database with THS company ID and airlineairport reference (AirlineAirportRef), when the THS is associated withan airline. The different THSs of the plurality of THSs 150 ¹, 150 ², .. . , 150^(Y) may be associated with a travel company. Each THS of theplurality of THSs 150 ¹, 150 ², . . . , 150 ^(Y) may specify their owncustomized boarding pass template and luggage tag template. The boardingpass template may determine a location for placement of the emulatedboarding pass barcode and other required information. Specifically, thetemplate may include verbiage in a header paragraph and other verbiageto be printed on the integrated end-to-end TI device. The boarding passformats may be dictated by the airline PECTAB.

At block 416, the method 400 may determine if a template exists for theTHS ID. If a template associated with the THS ID exists, block 416proceeds to block 418 where the method 400 returns the template objectfor the THS ID. Block 418 proceeds to block 312 of FIG. 3. In someembodiments, the boarding pass designated section may include adesignated area for a supplemental THS message. For example, the journeymay begin at a cruise line. A cruise line statement may be placed abovethe boarding pass for a THS of a next leg of travel.

If at block 416 it is determined that no template exists for the THS ID,the method 400 pulls a THS company ID via an airline airport reference,for example, at block 420. At block 422, the method 400 may query thetemplate database with the company ID and/or airline ID.

At block 424, a determination is made whether a template exists. If atemplate exists after block 424, the method 400 proceeds to block 418.If at block 424 a template does not exist, then at block 426, the method400 may query template database with company ID and airline and airlineairport reference set to null. At block 428 a determination is madewhether a template exists. If a template exists after block 428, themethod 400 proceeds to block 418. If at block 428 a template does notexist, then at block 430, the method 400 uses a stored defaultintegrated TI template. Block 430 then proceeds to block 418.

FIG. 5 illustrates a process 500 for reconciliation of a passenger (PAX)record performed in block 320 of FIG. 3. At block 510, the process 500creates a boarding pass and luggage tag such as by a programmatic array.At block 512, the system sets BPID equal to PAX undeleted boarding passID. At block 514, the system sets LTID equal to PAX undeleted bag IDs.Then, at block 519, the system 100 returns the BPID[ ] and the LTID[ ]to block 322 of FIG. 3.

FIG. 6 illustrates a process 600 for associating the boarding pass withone or more luggage tags in the passenger journey document file 160 fora passenger (PAX). The process 600 may be a performed in block 322 ofFIG. 3. At block 610, the process 600 calls a function (BuildPDF) thatutilizes the BPID and LTID. The BuildPDF function may be a functionwhich call another type of image-based text format file. At block 612,the process 600 may loop through the BPIDs of a batch of BPIDs for asingle selection entered via GUI 1400 (FIG. 14A). Process 614 may be aloop process with block 616 to determine whether more boarding passesremain. If the determination is “YES” then at block 616, the process 600sets the boarding pass read for print now (print=now) and nullsNeedsReprint and AvailableForReprint in the boarding pass record, atblock 618. Block 618 loops back to block 616. This process 614 loops forall boarding passes. The GUI 1400 may be updated to reflect the boardingpass is ready to be generated, such as via printing by a peripheraldevice. The boarding pass needs reprint may be a message to an operatorcausing reprinting of the TI device.

At block 616, if no boarding passes remain, the process 600 loopsthrough LTIDs at block 620. Process 622 may be a process for loopingthrough the LTIDs. At block 624, a determination may be made if morebags remain. Then at block 626, the process 600 sets the bag ready toprint now (Print=Now) and nulls NeedsReprint of the bag (luggage tag).The bags need reprint may be a message to an operator causing theprinting of the integrated end-to-end TI device. Block 626 loops back toblock 624. The mop of blocks 624 and 626 continues until no bags remain.If no bag remains, then block 624 exists back to block 322 of FIG. 3 foroutput.

At block 610, the process of FIGS. 7A-7B may be performed. FIGS. 7A-7Billustrate a flowchart for process 700 for drawing the integrated travelinstrument compatible with the template. Block 710 be ins in block 610of FIG. 6. At block 710, the process 700 gets the BPIDs and set BPcount(boarding pass count) for a passenger's journey end-to-end. At block712, the process 700 gets count of temporary LTIDs and sets the bag tagcount (BTcount). At block 714, a determination may be made whether theBPcount is greater than or equal to BTCount/2, if so, the processproceeds to block 716. On the other hand, if the BPcount is less thanBTcount/2, the page count is set in block 718. At block 716, the systemsets page count to equal BPcount. At block 718, system sets page countto rounded (BTcount/2) to the next integer and proceeds to block 720.BTcount corresponds to the number N of needed bag tags or luggage tags.The number X corresponds to the number 2.

At block 720, a determination may be made whether page count is equal to0. If the page count is equal to 0, at block 722, the process 700 mayconvert the PDF or other image-based text format file to varbinary andproceeds to block 612 of FIG. 6. The point of this decision at block 720is to loop through each page required and build the passenger's journeydocument file. PageCount may be used as a counter that will eventuallybe equal to 0—meaning the process has finished building the set ofintegrated instruments for the respective passenger. For example, theset of integrated instruments may include one or more boarding passinstruments, each boarding pass instrument on a different sheet. The setof integrated instruments may include on a respective one sheet with aboarding pass instrument and up to X temporary luggage tag identifier sothat up to X luggage tag devices can be detached from the boarding passinstrument and subsequently attached to corresponding luggage items.

If at block 720, page count is not equal to 0. then block 720 isfollowed by block 724. At block 724, the process 700 selects nextboarding pass to be built from the BPID and proceeds to block 730 ofFIG. 7B. A determination may be made at block 730 whether more boardingpasses exist. If so, block 730 proceeds to block 740. If at block 730,it may be determined that there are no more boarding passes, the process700 may proceed to block 732.

At block 732, the process 700 draws the BPHold data from template.(BPHold is place holder content to be populated in the boarding passdesignated section in the event that luggage tags outnumber boardingpasses at a ratio greater than, by way of non-limiting example, 2:1 orX:1). At block 734, the process 700 selects the next LTID in a list ofLTIDs for the passenger to build from 1 to x. The block 734 receives theretuned parameters described in relation to FIG. 8.

The luggage tag may be built based on a specific THS (company) templateformat or default template format. At block 762, when no more luggagetag IDs exists, the process proceeds to block 766. At block 766, adetermination may be made to determine whether the page count is equalto 1 and the BTcount is “ODD.” If so, the system may draw BTHold dataaccording to the template format (BTHold is place holder content to bepopulated), at block 768. Block 768 may be followed by block 756.

If at block 766 it is determined that the page count is not 1 andBTcount is “EVEN,” then block 766 proceeds to block 756 where the pagecount is decreased by 1. Block 756 flows back to block 720 of FIG. 7A.

Returning again to block 740, the process 700 may retrieve theintegrated TI template 124 for the THS and populates the passenger'sjourney data of the passenger journey document file 160 in a PDFformatted document or other image-based text format file document. Atblock 742, the process 700 may determine whether the baggage fee is 0.If the baggage fee is 0, block 742 flows to block 746 to determinewhether the US Customs information is needed. If the US Custominformation is 0, the process 700 flows to block 754. The process of 754is described in relation to FIG. 8. The value 0 equals false and thevalue 1 equal true.

Returning again to block 742, the process 700 may determine whether thebaggage fee is 1. if the baggage fee is 1, block 742 flows to block 744to obtain bag fee data associated with template at block 744 and drawsthe bag fee in the template, at block 748. Block 748 returns to block746. Assume the “bag fee” is set to true, thus, the term “draws” meansthe generation of a corresponding message (verbiage) in alphanumericcharacters representative of the bag fee information to populate theintegrated TI template. If at block 744 the template bag fee data is 0,block 744 may follow to block 746.

Retuning again to block 746, the process 700 determines whether the USCustoms information is needed. If the US Custom information is 1, theprocess 700 flows to block 750. At block 750, if the template for USCustoms is 1, then block 750 flows to block 752 where the US Customsinformation is retrieved and drawn on the written on the front side(bottom of the BP image). Block 752 may flow to block 754. Otherwise, ifat block 750 the template for the US Customs information is 0, then theprocess 700 flows to block 754. The template for the US Customsinformation may be pre-written instructions formatted according to thetemplate.

FIG. 8 illustrates a process 800 for building the boarding pass objectfor the template. At block 810, the process 800 pulls the boarding passobject with ID during block 754 of FIG. 7B. At block 811, the process800 gets a PECTAB ID. (PECTAB is a parametric table to map the layout ofthe boarding pass elements.) In some embodiments, each airline or THSmay have its own PECTAB ID or parametric table for the airline'sboarding pass elements. Thus, the stored boarding pass stored in theboarding pass record may include the parametric table for which to builda boarding pass object based on the BPID and THS ID

At block 812, a determination may be made whether no PECTAB ID objectwas returned. If no object was returned, the process 800 proceeds toblock 814, where an error message may be generated indicative of aboarding pass build failed. The process 800 may proceed to block 754 ofFIG. 7B from block 814. At block 812, if a PECTAB ID object wasreturned, then the system builds an emulated BP barcode at block 816. Atblock 818, if no barcode is returned, the process loops to block 814. Atblock 818, if a barcode object was returned, then at block 824, process800 builds a boarding pass in PDF or other image-based text format file.The process 800, after block 824, returns to block 734 of FIG. 7B.

FIG. 9 illustrates a process 900 for building a luggage tag. At block910, the process 800 pulls the luggage bag object with the LTID and THSin response to block 764 of FIG. 7B. At block 912, if the luggage tagidentifier exists from the remote check-in, the process 900 builds theluggage tag barcode, at block 916. On the other hand, if at block 912 itmay be determined that a remote check-in luggage tag identifier (BTID)does not exist, block 912 proceeds to block 920.

The process 900 may generate an error message, Luggage Tag Build Failed,at block 920.

At block 918, if no barcode is returned, the process 900 may loop backto block 920 to produce an error message. If a barcode object isreturned, then at block 922, the process 900 may get passenger bagpassenger ID and bag number. At block 924, a determination may be madewhether data is missing. If data is missing, process 900 loops back toblock 920 to produce an error message and goes to block 764 of FIG. 7B.Otherwise, at block 924 it is determined that all data is returned, thenthe process 900 may build the luggage tag, with luggage tag identifier(LTID) and LT barcode in the template for the PDF or other image-basedtext format file, at block 926. From block 926, the process 900 proceedsto block 764 of FIG. 7B. When the website 110 detects an error, theerror message may be display in a window overlaid on GUI 1400 or otherGUI at the host check-in system 140.

FIG. 10A illustrates a front side 1001 of an integrated TI template1000A. The template is only a template of a single-sheet document butwith a front side 1001 and aback side 1002 (FIG. 10B). The template maybe configured to populate information according to a single-side pageformat. The template may be constructed to only permit printing on thefront of the page or devices 1000C of FIG. 10C. The front side 1001includes a boarding pass designate section 1020A, a first luggage tagsection 1030A and a second luggage tag section 1032A. The first luggagetag section 1030A of the template may include perforated line indicatorsalong the side adjacent to the boarding pass designated section 1020Aand the second luggage tag designated section 1032A.

The LTID areas 1057A, 1057B, 1059A and 1059B correspond to designatedareas for LTID barcodes. The LTID areas 1057A and 1059A, on oppositesides of the first luggage tag section 1030A, may be used to printthereon the first LTID information and LTID barcode for a first luggageitem according to the AEA standard format, but generally diametricallyopposing.

The LTID areas 1057B and 1059B, on opposite sides of the second luggagetag section 1032A, may be used to print thereon the second LTIDinformation and LTID barcode for a second luggage item according to theAEA standard format, but generally diametrically opposing. The areas ofthe first and second luggage tag sections 1030A and 1032A may be usedfor displaying printed information corresponding to the passenger'sname, first travel mode. information, if appropriate. The first travelmode may be an airline. Additionally, the first and second luggage tagsections 1030A and 1032A may be used to display printed informationcorresponding to any transfer to or second travel mode. In this example,a room for a cruise ship may be populated and printed such as for asecond travel mode. The order of displaying the first travel mode andthe second travel mode information may be changed. The first and secondluggage tag sections 1030A and 1032A may only display travel modeinformation for one mode of travel.

FIG. 10B illustrates a back side 1002 of a single-sheet integratedmedium. The back side 1002 includes pre-printed instructions ininstructions area 1040 where area 1040 may provide federal instructions,travel instructions, etc. The pre-printed instructions may be printed onthe back side of the single-sheet integrated medium. The area 1040substantially corresponds with the boarding pass section 1020A on thefront side. The back side 1002 may include a first luggage tag section1070A and a second luggage tag section 1072A formed in the areas of theback side 1002 overlapping the first luggage tag section 1030A and thesecond luggage tag section 1032A, respectively. The back side mayinclude pre-printed instructions for the separation of the luggage tagsections, and installation or attachment instructions for the passenger(or others) to attach the luggage tag to their luggage. The back side1002 corresponds to the back or bottom side of the first layer 1065.

The back side 1002 may illustrate two parallel black lines configured tobe pre-printed. However, the slits 1063 (FIG. 10C) may be adjacent toand/or parallel to the parallel lines on the back side. The areas 1068Aand 1068B overlap with areas 1057A and 1057B, respectively, and may havepre-printed thereon certain instructions for the generation of first andsecond luggage tags.

The areas 1069A and 1069B overlap with areas 1059A and 1059B,respectively, and may have pre-printed thereon certain instructions forthe generation of first and second luggage tags. The areas, denoted as1068A and 1068B, and the areas, denoted as 1069A and 1069B, are adhesivecovers.

The adhesive covers 1068A and 1069A may be adapted to be lifted from theunderlying adhesive to connect opposite ends of the first tag section1070A such that the AEA compliant LTID information and LTID barcodes fora first luggage item may be visible when attached around and a handle,for example, of the first luggage. The adhesive covers 1068B and 1069Bmay be adapted to be lifted from the underlying adhesive to connectopposite ends of the second tag section 1072A such that the AEAcompliant LTID information and LTID barcodes for a second luggage itemmay be visible when attached around a handle, for example, of the secondluggage.

FIG. 10C illustrates blank integrated end-to-end travel instrument (TI)devices 1000C on a single-sheet integrated medium which tracks thesection of the integrated template shown in FIG. 10A. FIG. 10Dillustrates a cross-sectional view of a longitudinal side of theintegrated end-to-end TI devices. FIG. 10E illustrates a cross-sectionalview of a short side of the TI devices.

The blank integrated travel instrument devices 1000C may be configuredto be a first layer 1065 (FIGS. 10D and 10E) which may be a letter sizesheet such as 8.5×11 inches or other size. The first layer 1065 mayinclude first and second perforations 1062A and 1062B (FIG. 10D) formedin the sheet to separate the luggage tag designated sections 1030C and1032C and the boarding pass section 1020C. The perforations 1062A and1062B may be 2 full width micro perforation. The first perforations1062A forms a line essentially across the width of the first layer 1065.The second perforations 1062B forms a line essentially across the widthof the first layer 1065 and wherein the line may be separate from and inparallel with the first perforations 1062B. The adhesive covers 1068Aand 1069AC may be configured to be tear proof except along theperforations 1062A and 1062B. Additionally, the paper stock of the firstlayer 1065 may be configured to be used in a laser printer such that theprinted characters and data may be generated so that it does not smearor chip. In other words, the integrated travel instrument may be tearproof and smear proof.

The integrated end-to-end TI devices 1000C further includes a first,second layer portion 1060, denoted as a solid area, and a second, secondlayer portion 1061 denoted by the hatched area with diagonal lines. Thefirst and second, second layer portions 1060 and 1061 may include atleast one coating configured to be applied to a top side of the firstlayer 1065 material. In some embodiments, the coating of the firstsecond layer portion 1060 may be different from the coating of thesecond, second layer portion 1061. The coating of at least the firstsecond layer portion 1060 may be adapted to be printed thereon by aprinter. The coatings may provide thin layers of laminated section orglossy sections on the top side of the first layer 1065.

The integrated travel instrument devices 1000C may include a third layerforming top layers 1030C and 1032C. The third layer 1030C may include afirst luggage tag layer applied over the coating in the first luggagetag section 1030. The third layer 1032C of the integrated travelinstrument device 1000C may include a second luggage tag layer appliedover the coating in the second luggage tag section 1032. Depending onthe sin of the first layer 1065 and the number of luggage tag sections,the third layer may include additional luggage tag layers. Additionally,the first layer may include additional perforations in parallel andbetween additional luggage tag layers.

The second layer portion 1061 may be applied over the front/top side ofthe first layer 1065. The coating of the second layer portion 1061 maybe configured to be part of the adhesive protector or cover (i.e.,adhesive protectors or covers 1068A, 1068B, 1069A and 1069B), describedin more detail below. The adhesive protectors or covers 1068A, 1068B,1069A and 1069B allow a portion of the first layer 1065 to be pulled offwithout affecting the adhesive properties of the adhesive layer portions1052 and 1053 which comprise an adhesive overlaid on the top side of thecoating of the second layer 1061 applied to the first layer 1065. Theadhesive protectors or covers allow a portion on opposite sides of thefirst (top) luggage tag layer 1030C in the designated sections to bepulled off without affecting the adhesive properties such that theadhesive layer portion 1052 overlaid on the top side of the first layer1065, at section 1065B. The adhesive protectors or covers allow aportion on opposite sides of the second (top) luggage tag layer 1032C inthe designated sections to be pulled off without affecting the adhesiveproperties such that the adhesive layer portion 1053 overlaid on the topside of the first layer 1065, at section 1065C. The first layer portions1065C¹, 1065C² and 1065C³ may be positioned under the tag layers 1030Cand 1032C. Tag layers 1030C and 1032C may be parallel and separated byperforations.

There may be a back slit 1063 for each adhesive protector verticallyformed in at least the first layer 1065 to form adhesive covers 1068A,1068B, 1069A and 1069B. The black line in FIG. 10C does not denote thatthe slit is formed in the first tag layer 1030C and the second tag layer1032C. Instead, the slit 1063 may be formed in the first layer 1065 andresides under the first tag layer 1030C and the second tag layer 1032C.The slit 1063 may be formed by perforations.

The slit 1063 may allow only part of the adhesive to be exposed when thefirst luggage tag layer 1030C and the second luggage tag layer 1032C areremoved. The luggage tag layer may be 8.25 inches wide and 2 inchestall. The first layer 1065 may include paper stock to print theintegrated travel instrument. The first layer 1065 may be a laser ledgersheet. The laser ledger sheet may include a 28 lb. sheet. In anembodiment, the TI devices 1000C may include different sizes such as fordifferent number of bag tags. For example, for three bag tags, a largersheet may be used to expand the areas for luggage tags to three or more.Each luggage tag would have a corresponding luggage tag layer. In anembodiment, each luggage tag layer may include a paper sublayerconfigured to have printed thereon luggage tag information. Each luggagetag layer may include an adhesive layer under the paper sublayer. Theadhesive layer is under the first and second tag layers 1030C and 1032Cand may cover the entire area of the luggage tag layer. However,removing the luggage tag section along the perforations, allows theluggage tag layer 1030C or 1032C to be bent along the slits 1063.

The blank integrated end-to-end TI devices 146 (FIG. 1A) may include ina first luggage tag designation section 1030A to form a first luggagetag device 1035 for selectively populating thereon a first LTID andluggage tag barcode for the respective one passenger, when the number Nis determined to be at least one. Thus, the system selectively builds afirst luggage tag on the first tag layer 1030C of the first luggage tagdevice 1035. The integrated end-to-end TI devices 1000C has a first edgecomprising a first perforation dividing line 1062A being adjacent to theboarding pass designated section 1020C. The first perforation dividingline 1062A may be configured to detach the first luggage tag device 1035from the boarding pass designated section 1020C, after the boarding passand luggage tags have been printed or generated. The first luggage tagdevice 1035, after being attached, may be attached to a first luggageitem. Perforation dividing line 1062A separates the first layer 1065into first layer sections 1065A and 1065B, corresponding to the boardingpass designation section and first luggage tag designation section,respectively. The perforation dividing line 1062B separates the firstlayer 1065 into first layer sections 1065B and 1065C, corresponding tothe first luggage tag designation section and the second luggage tagdesignation section, respectively. The first layer sections 1065B and1065C may serve as the protective covers 1068A and 1068B.

The integrated end-to-end TI devices 1000C may comprise a second edgeparallel to the first edge comprising a second perforation dividing line1062B on an opposite side of the first luggage tag designation section1030C. A second luggage tag designation section 1032C may be providedbetween the second perforation dividing line 1062B and an edge or distalend of the single sheet of the integrated end-to-end TI devices 1000C.The second luggage tag designation section 1032C may be part of a secondluggage tag device 1037 for selectively populating a second LTID andluggage tag of the respective one passenger on the second tag layer1032C. The second luggage tag designation section 1032C may be adjacentto the second perforation dividing line 1062B. The second luggage tagdesignation section 1032C may be printed with the second LTID andluggage tag on the second tag layer 1032C when the number N of luggageitems is determined to be at least 2 (or greater than 1) to form asecond luggage tag. The second luggage tag may be attached to a secondluggage item.

The first and second luggage tag device 1035 and 1037 may be configuredto loop around handles of a luggage item. Thereafter, free ends oropposite ends of the devices may be adhesively attached or fastened.

Referring now to FIG. 11, in a basic configuration, the computing device(CD) 142 may include any type of stationary computing device, mobilecomputing device or webserver. Computing device 142 may include one ormore processors 1152 and system memory in hard drive 1154. Depending onthe exact configuration and type of computing device, system memory maybe volatile (such as RAM 1156), non-volatile (such as read only memory(ROM 1158), flash memory 1160, and the like or some combination of thetwo. System memory may store operating system 1164, one or moreapplications, and may include program data for performing the methodsand processes described herein in FIGS. 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7A-7B, 8, 9, 15and 16A-16C. The computing device 142 may carry out one or more blocksof processes in FIGS. 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7A-7B, 8, 9, 15 and 16A-16C. Thewebserver way include webserver applications for communicating withremote (client-side) computing devices over the Internet.

Computing device 142 may also have additional features or functionality.For example, computing device 142 may also include additional datastorage devices (removable and/or non-removable) such as, for example,magnetic disks, optical disks, or tape. Computer storage media mayinclude volatile and non-volatile, non-transitory, removable andnon-removable media implemented in any method or technology for storageof data, such as computer readable instructions, data structures,program modules or other data. System memory, removable storage andnon-removable storage may be all examples of computer storage media.Computer storage media includes, but is not limited to, RAM, ROM,Electrically Erasable Read-Only Memory (EEPROM), flash memory or othermemory technology, compact-disc-read-only memory (CD-ROM), digitalversatile disks (DVD) or other optical storage, magnetic cassettes,magnetic tape, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices,or any other physical medium which may be used to store the desireddata, and which may be accessed by computing device. Any such computerstorage media may be part of device. The storage media may includetangible, non-transitory computer readable storage media.

Computing device 142 may also include or-have interfaces for inputdevice(s) (not shown) such as a keyboard, mouse, pen, voice inputdevice, touch input device, etc. The computing device 142 may include orhave interfaces for connection to output device(s) such as a display1162, speakers, etc. The computing device 142 may include a peripheralbus 1166 for connecting to peripherals. Computing device 142 may containcommunication connection(s) that allow the device to communicate withother computing devices, such as over a network or a wireless network.By way of example, and not limitation, communication connection(s) mayinclude wired media such as a wired network or direct-wired connection,and wireless media such as acoustic, radio frequency (RF), infrared andother wireless media.

The computing device 142 may include a network interface card 1168 toconnect (wired or wireless) to a network. Computer program code forcarrying out operations described above may be written in a variety ofprogramming languages including, but not limited to, a high-levelprogramming language, such as C, C++, C#, for development convenience.In addition, computer program code for carrying out operations ofembodiments described herein may also be written in other programminglanguages such as, but not limited to, interpreted languages. Somemodules or routines may be written in assembly language or evenmicro-code to enhance performance and/or memory usage. It will befurther appreciated that the functionality of any or all of the programmodules may also be implemented using discrete hardware components, oneor more application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), or aprogrammed Digital Signal Processor (DSP) or microcontroller. A code inwhich a program of the embodiments is described may be included as afirmware in a RAM, a ROM and a flash memory. Otherwise, the code may bestored in a tangible computer-readable storage medium such as a magnetictape, a flexible disc, a hard disc, a compact disc, a photo-magneticdisc, a digital versatile disc (DVD). The code may be stored in anon-transitory, tangible computer-readable storage medium. The websitemay be hosted on a cloud server.

The embodiments may be configured for use in a computer or a dataprocessing apparatus which includes a memory, such as a centralprocessing unit (CPU), a RAM and a ROM as well as a tangible,non-transitory computer readable storage medium such as a hard disc.

The “step-by-step process” for performing the claimed functions hereinis a specific algorithm, and may be shown as a mathematical formula, inthe text of the specification as prose, and/or in a flow chart. Theinstructions of the software program create a special purpose machinefor carrying out the particular algorithm. Thus, in anymeans-plus-function claim herein in which the disclosed structure is acomputer, or microprocessor, programmed to carry out an algorithm, thedisclosed structure is not the general-purpose computer, but rather thespecial purpose computer programmed to perform the disclosed algorithm.

A general-purpose computer, or microprocessor, may be programmed tocarry out the algorithm/steps for creating a new machine. Thegeneral-purpose computer becomes a special-purpose computer once it isprogrammed to perform particular functions pursuant to instructions fromprogram software of the embodiments described herein. The instructionsof the software program that carry out the algorithm/steps electricallychange the general-purpose computer by creating electrical paths withinthe device. These electrical paths create a special purpose machine forcarrying out the particular algorithm/steps.

FIG. 12A illustrates a first example of integrated TI devices 1200A on asingle-sheet integrated medium. The boarding pass section 1220A includesa top paragraph providing instructions to the passenger with a logo thatmay be configurable via a designated template format. The boarding passinstrument 1210A may be for a flight. An emulated BP barcode 1211 may beprovided at a location which may be defined by the airline or other THStemplate configuration. The boarding pass designated section 1220A mayinclude a bag tag identifier (BTID) section, for applying the officialBTID 1209 as part of the boarding pass instrument 1210A. The BTIDsection may be shown outside of the border defining the boarding passinstrument 1210A. However, the BTIDs 1209 may be printed within theborder of the boarding pass instrument 1210A. The boarding passinstrument 1210A may include other journey information including theTHS, the date and time, the departing location, destination location,PAXID etc. The boarding pass instrument 1210A may be useable by thepassenger to enter a travel vehicle such as an airplane when the THS isan airline, without the need for the passenger to obtain anotherboarding pass to enter the travel vehicle.

The luggage tag devices 1229A and 1229B are also shown with thepassenger name, flight number (1339), flight time, room number and LTIDbarcodes 1231A and 1233A on opposite, ends of the luggage tag designatedsections 1230A and 1232A, respectively. A numerical value of arespective LTID may be adjacent its corresponding LTID barcode. Theluggage tag devices 1229A and 1229B once printed and removed from theboarding pass instrument 1210A become separated luggage tag deviceswhich may be individually attached to a luggage item associated with thepassenger to be temporarily checked-in. The luggage tag devices 1229Aand 1229B may include an airline or THS indicator 1237. The temporarilychecked-in luggage items with the luggage tag devices 1229A and 1229Bmay be transported by the cruise line or other third-party vendorwithout the need for the passenger or traveler to transport theirluggage items to the THS. The passenger may keep in their possession,carry-on baggage items. The airline or THS indicator 1237 may allowluggage handlers to direct the luggage items more efficiently. In someembodiments, when the luggage items may be transported to the THS orother holding location, the temporary luggage tag devices may be removedand/or replaced with an official bag tag matched to the LTID on thetemporary luggage tag device. The BTID numerical code may be maintainedby the passenger via the markings on the boarding pass instrument.

FIG. 12B illustrates a second example of integrated TI devices 1200B ona single-sheet integrated medium. The boarding pass section 1220Bincludes a top paragraph providing instructions to the passenger with alogo that may be configurable via a designated template format. Theboarding pass instrument 1210B for the flight includes an emulated BPbarcode 1211 which may be readable by the THS. In section 1230B, aluggage tag device 1229A may be shown with a passenger name, flightnumber and LTID barcodes 1231A. Only one tag was generated since thepassenger has only one bag or luggage item, for example, to be checked.The second luggage tag section may be blank if there are no more luggagetags. The blank luggage tag device may be removed or detached from theother printed luggage tag device. In some embodiments, a note to thepassenger may be printed in the blank luggage tag section. The note maybe a message defined in the airline template or THS template to detachand discard.

FIG. 12C illustrates a third example of integrated travel instrumentdevices 1200C on a single-sheet integrated medium. The third example issimilar to the first and second examples. Therefore, only some of thedifferences will be described for the sake of brevity. The boarding passsection 1220C includes a boarding pass instrument 1210C. The boardingpass instrument 1210C illustrates a different location for the placementof the emulated BP barcode 1211. In this example, another barcode 1213may be provided on the boarding pass instrument 1210C.

FIG. 13 illustrates a graphical user interface (GUI) 1300 for accessinga location and event. The GUI 1300 may include a field 1310 to identitythe company/partner using the system, for example. The GUI 1300 mayinclude a field 1315 for selecting the site or site location. Forexample, an event in which the passengers are debarking from a cruiseship or departure from another location, such as a hotel or venue with atransfer to a flight, for example. A cruise ship may be a type of THSand part of the end-to-end journey. In other embodiments, an event maybe related to a passenger debarking from an event travel host system(ETHS), such as a train system or bus system with a transfer to aflight. In other embodiments, the event may include one or more flightswhich are not also related to another travel host system, such as acruise ship, train or bus. Furthermore, the end-to-end journey mayinclude one or more flights using different airline companies. The GUI1300 further includes a close button 1340 and an open button 1345. Theselection of the open button 1345 retrieves passenger information forone or more passengers associated with an event, if applicable, which isdisplayed in a populated GUI 1400 of FIG. 14A. The GUI 1300 may displaythe number of participants with the THS identifier to have advance bagtags printed prior to demarking from the cruise ship, for example. TheGUI 1300 may display a date range associated with the event, forexample. The GUI 1300 may include a data field 1320.

FIG. 14A illustrates a GUI 1400 for local check-in, managing boardingpass and bag tag generation. The GUI 1400 displays a populated list ofpassenger information for a current manifest, for example, associatedwith a particular point of departure. The point of departure may beassociated with a cruise line or ETHS. The point of departure may have amanifest (i.e., manifest file 10) associated with passengersdisembarking the cruise line. In other embodiments, the point ofdeparture may have a manifest associated with a resort location or othervenue. In some embodiments, the GUI 1400 may include a list of passengerinformation based on other selection criteria. The manifest may be in amanifest file 10.

The passenger information in a row, such as row 1435, from the manifestmay be arranged in a plurality of columns to form a passenger traveljourney record. A passenger information column, in this example, mayinclude a room/cabin number field 1402 associated with a cruise ship,train, or other type of THS, including a resort or hotel. Passengerinformation columns may include the PAXID data fields including a lastname 1404 and first name 1406 of the passenger. A passenger informationcolumn may further include a field for an airline 1408. A passengerinformation column may include a field for a flight number 1410 with thepassenger. If the THS is a train, for example, in lieu of a flightnumber 110, the train number, bus number or ship number may be used. Apassenger information column may include field for time and dateinformation 1412 associated with the flight number 1410 or, in otherembodiments, the train number or bus number for which the passenger willtransfer to upon disembarking. The time and date information may berelated to a first flight for which the passenger departs the locationof a cruise ship or other location. For example, as passenger may afterdeparting a cruise ship may take a flight home (a return finaldestination). In some embodiments. the flight home may be a non-stopflight. However, on other embodiments, the flight home may have one ormore stops. The display flight information may include only the firstflight. A passenger information column may include a fieldrepresentative of a journey 1414.

The GUI 1400 may include a passenger information column for indicatingwhether a boarding pass (BP) 1416 has been generated. Not all passengerson a cruise ship will transfer to a flight or other mode of travel thatrequires a boarding pass. The GUI 1400 may include a passengerinformation column for indicating a number of boarding passes (BP) 1416.The GUI 1400 may include a passenger information column for a number Nof bags (Bag #) 1418. The number in the field includes a total count ofbags (luggage items) a passenger has. The GUI 1400 may include apassenger information column for a number of tags 1420 to be generated.The number of tags 1420 correspond to the number of luggage items thepassenger intends to check-in which requires a luggage tag device. TheGUI 1400 may include a passenger information column for identifying acurrent status 1422 of a passenger. The GUI 1400 may include a passengerinformation column for a debark group 1424. A debark group 1424 mayidentify which passengers may be associated with passengers of a grouptraveling together. The GUI 1400 may include a passenger informationcolumn for indicating whether the passenger documents are ready (DocReady) 1426. The operator of the GUI 1400 may determine certainpassengers do not have their documents ready including a boarding, passand/or luggage tag. The GUI 1400 may include a passenger informationcolumn for indicating whether the passenger documents (boarding passand/or tag) have been printed 1428 or generated. Thus, the GUI 1400tracks and updates the print column for each passenger integrated TIdevices being created by printing on the single-sheet integrated medium.The GUI 1400 also updates the Doe Ready column as the website 110generates the passenger journey document file ready indicator. Once theDoc Ready column identifies the documents are ready by a Yes or No, theoperator may then print the passenger journey document file for thecreation of the TI devices.

The GUI 1400 may be shown with a subset of passengers being selectedwhich do not currently have documents ready. There may be variousreasons for the document not being ready. For example, the operator ofthe GUI 1400 may need to request the generation of the passengerdocument file by the webserver 112 which can then be subsequentlyprinted. In this example, the selected passengers in the subset may bewithin the box 1437 around the passenger information with a dash, dotline format. The box 1437 is intended to represent a selected orhighlighted group of rows wherein each row may be associated with adifferent passenger and may represent a user selected batch. Eachdifferent passenger row includes information associated with thepassenger travel reservation (PTR) record. The record includesinformation associated with the columns described herein in the GUI1400. In other scenarios, the field for doe ready 1426 may be indicatedas “No” until the passenger document file is generated by the webserver112 although a request for generation of the passenger document file,has been requested. The Doc Ready indicates whether the necessaryinformation to generate the passenger's, end-to-end integrated travelinstruments has been prepared. The columns for Doc Ready 1426, Status1422 and Printed 1428 may be updated in real-time or near real-time.

The GUI 1400 may include a tool set of control icons 1440 described inrelation to FIG. 14B. The GUI 1400 may include a row 1430 having aplurality of search fields. Each search/filter field may be a blank dataentry field associated with a corresponding column of the plurality ofcolumns. The data in the columns may be sorted based on ascending orderor descending order. The GUI 1400 further includes a status summaryfield 1444 including information related to at least one of aconnection, number of enrolled passengers, number of issues, number oflocally checked-in passengers, number of canceled passengers and a totalof passengers. The connection may indicate whether the computing deviceis online. The status summary field 1444 may be updated in real-time aspassengers are locally checked-in, canceled, etc. A canceled status mayindicate that a flight or other mode of travel has cancelled thereservation, such as for mechanical malfunction of a travel vehicle orinclement weather, by way of non-limiting example.

FIG. 14B illustrates a tool set of control icons 1440 associated withthe GUI 1400 of FIG. 14A. The tool set of control icons 1440 may includea “Change Location” button or icon 1441 configured to change the THScompany, site and/or event manifest data. The tool set of control icons1440 may include an “Upload Manifest” icon 1442 configured to upload atravel manifest, such as without limitations, a cruise ship manifest.Additional icon options (not shown) may be provided. The tool set ofcontrol icons 1440 may include a “Download Documents” button or icon1443 configured to download selected passenger's documents, such as forprinting. The tool set of control icons 1440 may include a “ClearFilters” button or icon 1444 configured to clear the search filters suchas on row 1430. The tool set of control icons 1440 may include a“Refresh” button or icon 1446 configured to refresh a manifest, such asa cruise manifest. The tool set of control icons 1440 may include an“Export Grid” button or icon 1447 configured to export all passengersassociated with an event to an Excel file or other file format. Thepassengers may be those pop dated in the GUI 1400. The tool set ofcontrol icons 1440 may include a “Select All” icon 1448 configure toselect all passenger entries in a current view of the GUI 1400. The listof columns includes a Filter/Tab designator listed in Table 1.

TABLE 1 Filter/Tab Title Descrpton Room Passenger’s room Last NamePassenger’s last name First Name Passenger’s first name AirlineAirline’s two-digit code (ex: Southwest = WN) Flight Passenger’s flightnumber Time Passenger’s flight date and time Journey Flight path (ex:MCO to LAX) BP Number of boarding passes processed and available toprint Bags Number of bags passenger requested Tags Number of preliminaryairline tags processed and aviailable to print Status State of thepassenger in the processing program Debark Group A field used to grouppassengers for disembarkation (ex: B6, AAAA) DocReady If the passenger’sdocuments are currently available to be printed

The GUI 1400 may be configured to, upon receiving selection of the“Upload Manifest” button or icon 1442 upload as travel manifest of anevent THS from which passengers may depart and continue on a journey. Inthis example, the event THS is a cruise ship. The travel manifestincludes a list of passengers associated with an event, for example. Anevent may be a voyage between a certain date range and/or to aparticular destination. When the event hosted by the event THS iscomplete, passengers disembark and may continue on a journey, such ashome or another destination. The journey may include one or moreadditional THSs. Assume, some of the passengers will disembark or leavethe event THS and transfer to another journey THS. The passenger mayarrive at the journey THS via bus, taxi, foot, etc. However, the luggageitems will be taken from the event THS to the journey THS, such as anairline. These luggage items to be checked-in with the journey THS willbe checked-in.

The filter/tabs of the GUI 1400 allow the arrangement of rows of thedisplayed passenger entries to be varied. For example, clicking orselecting a particular later tab causes a filtering order to becontrolled. The filtering order may be controlled globally by descendingorder or ascending order numerically or alphabetically, for example. Thefiltering order may allow the operator to enter an airline identifier, aTHS identifier, if the passenger has a travel reservation for a leg oftravel. The identifier in the corresponding field may allow only thosepassengers associated with the selected airline identifier or THSidentifier to be displayed in the GUI grid. Other filtered passengersets may be created such as by “Status,” “Group,” etc. The GUI grid maybe filtered by a particular one flight number.

To print passengers' journey document files and generate the integratedend-to-end TI devices, the operator may download, via the GUI 1400, upto 100 passengers, for example, in one document download batch to avoiddownloading delays. In some embodiments, the GUI 1400 may be configuredto only print those passenger's journey document files in an acceptedstatus such as without limitation “Checked-In” and “48 Hour”.

The GUI 1400 allows the operator to select the passenger(s) that need TIdevices generated, such as by using a user interface (i.e., mouse, touchsensitive display, pen or stylus, keyboard) which highlights those rowsassociated with the passenger's name. Alternately, the operator may alsoselect passengers by holding the control button and selecting passengersindividually or selecting a range of passengers by holding the shift keydown on a keyboard while clicking the passengers at the beginning andend of the range or press a “Select All” button or icon 1448 which willselect all passengers in the view. The “Select All” button or icon 1448corresponds to the check mark icon in the tool set of control icons 1440of the GUI 1400.

Using the GUI 1400, the operator may click the “Download Documents”button or icon 1443 displayed in the tool set of control icons 1440 ofthe GUI 1400 Upon the GUI 1400 receiving the command to downloaddocuments, the passenger journey document files may be downloaded fromthe website 110 in the order they appear on the grid/list. Once thedownload is complete, a batch file indicator is download in anddisplayed by the GUI 1400 or browser. When the GUI 1400 receives acommand representative of clicking or selecting the batch fileindicator, the GUI 1400 opens the batch file within the display screen.

The operator needs to verify that the single-sheet integrated media andno other paper or media is filled in the printer device or peripheraldevice prior to printing the batch file of downloaded passenger journeydocument files. When the batch file of downloaded passenger journeydocument is open, a print icon may be displayed via the GUI 1400. Theoperator may press Ctrl+P using a keyboard or click on a print icon ofthe GUI 1400. Once the print command is received by the GUI 1400 basedon the selection of the print icon by the operator causes the batchfile, to be buffered for printing by the designated printer, such as alaser printer.

To export data from the GUI 1400, the open event being displayed may bedownloaded to a subsequent manifest processed file. For example, thedisplayed grid listing the passengers and related records may beexported to a different file format upon receiving a selection orcommand indicative of selecting or clicking the “Export Grid” button oricon 1447 in the tool set of control icons 1440 of the GUI 1400.

Unless otherwise defined, all terms (including technical and scientificterms) used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by oneof ordinary skill in the art to which embodiments belongs. It will befurther understood that terms, such as those defined in commonly useddictionaries, should be interpreted as having a meaning that isconsistent with their meaning in the context of the relevant art andwill not be interpreted in an idealized or overly formal sense unlessexpressly so defined herein.

FIG. 15 illustrates a flowchart of a method 1500 for collectingpassenger information for an end-to-end journey. The method 1500 maycomprise, at block 1502, receiving streamed passenger informationincluding passenger identification (PAXID), end-to-end flight, journey,or travel reservation information, at least one official boarding passidentifier (BPID), and an official bag tag identifier (BTID), for eachluggage item to be checked-in. An official BPID may be required for eachleg of the journey, such as for changing flights, changing THS orchanging the travel mode.

The method 1500 may comprise, at block 1504, saving the receivedstreamed passenger information in a database. The database may be storedin a memory device. The method 1500 may comprise, at block 1506,generating for a passenger with at least one luggage item to bechecked-in, a temporary luggage tag identifier (LTID) for eachindividual luggage item associated with the passenger. Each generatedtemporary LTID is then linked to a respective official BTID whereinthere is a one-to-one correspondence between the official BTID for aluggage item and the generated LTID for the same luggage item.

Specifically, the block 1506 of the method 1500 may comprise, at block1508, determining the number of official BTIDs for the currentpassenger. At block 1510, if the number of official BTIDs is determinedto be greater than 0 for the current passenger, then the method, atblock 1512, may generate a temporary luggage tag identifier (LTID) forthe current official BTID. The block 1506 of the method 1500 maycomprise, at block 1514, associating/linking in a database stored inmemory the official BTID with the corresponding temporary LTID for thepassenger.

The method 1500 may comprise, at block 1516, decrementing by 1 the # ofofficial bag identifiers for the current passenger. Block 1516 loopsback to- block 1510 so that for each official BTID for the passenger, atemporary LTID may be generated, at block 1512, and linked to theofficial BTID in a database, at block 1514. The official bag tag countmay be decremented until each time a LTID is generated for each officialBTID.

Once all of the official BTIDs have been processed and the number ofofficial BTIDs for the current passenger is 0 (zero), then at block1510, the method proceeds to block 1518 and ends the process for thecurrent passenger. The method 1500 may be repeated for each passengerassociated with one or more travel departure sites requiring an officialboarding pass of an issuing Travel Host System (THS) and/or official bagtag identifiers for tracking luggage items to be checked-in with theTHS.

FIGS. 16A-16C illustrate a flowchart for generating integratedend-to-end travel instruments during a check-in period.

The method 1600 may comprise, at block 1602, retrieving, by thewebserver 112, a passenger's information record including, end-to-endjourney information, the official BPID, and, if any, official BTID andthe linked temporary LTID for each luggage item to be checked-in with aTHS associated with a passenger. The method 1600 may comprise, at block1604, saving for the one or more passengers, the retrieved passenger'sinformation record in a database in memory. The method 1600 maycomprise, at block 1606, receiving selection of via the client deviceusing the GUI, one or more passengers for generation of their integratedend-to-end travel instrument devices during a passenger check-in period.

The method 1600 may comprise, at block 1608, determining, by thewebserver 112, based on each THS ID, for example, the customized THStemplate(s) for generation of the integrated end-to-end TI devices foreach of the one or more passengers. The method 1600 may comprise, atblock 1610, determining a page count for each integrated end-to-end TIdevice based on at least one of the end-to-end journey information(number of official BPIDs), official BTID and the number of temporaryLTIDs needed for a corresponding passenger.

The method 1600 may comprise, at block 1612, a setting page count forpassenger's journey document file (PJDF) 160 used to create theintegrated end-to-end TI devices. The method 1600 may comprise, at block1614, populating a first page with data representative of a firstboarding pass for a first leg of travel for the generation of theintegrated end-to-end TI devices.

With reference to FIG. 16B, at block 1620, a determination is madewhether PageCount is >0? If the determination at block 1620 is “NO,” themethod 1600 may advance to FIG. 16C. However, if the determination atblock 1620 is “YES,” the method 1600 may advance to block 1622. Themethod 1600 may comprise, at block 1622, determining whether the number# of remaining boarding passes is equal (=) to 0. If the determinationat block 1622 is “YES,” the method 1600 may advance to block 1630 wherethe BPHold data is written and may proceed to block 1628.

The method 1600 may comprise, at block 1628, determining whether thenumber #of LTIDs>0. If the determination is “YES,” then the method 1600may, at block 1634, include populating the current page of thepassenger's journey document file with up to X temporary luggage tagidentifiers (LTIDs) associated with the first boarding pass of thepassenger's journey file.

The method 1600 may comprise, at block 1636, decrementing the number #of temporary LTIDs by the number # of populated LTIDs in current page.The method 1600 may comprise, at block 1638, decrementing the page countby 1 and return to block 1620. Returning to block 1628, if thedetermination is “NO,” then at block 1632, the BTHold data is written.Block 1632 advances to block 1638.

Returning again to block 1622, if the determination is “NO,” then atblock 1624, the method may include populating the current page of thepassenger's journey document file with a boarding pass for a leg oftravel in the passenger's journey document file. The “next” boardingpass may be for the same (first) THS as the previous boarding pass ordifferent (second) THS. If the “next” boarding pass is associated with adifferent second THS, the data represented as the boarding pass may beformed using the integrated end-to-end TI template customized for thesecond THS. However, in some embodiments, the data representative of theLTIDs populated on the next page with the additional boarding pass mayuse the template format of the first THS, for the luggage tag generationwhile the boarding pass may use a different template. At block 1626, themethod 1600 may decrement the count of boarding passes by 1. Block 1626may proceed to block 1628, previously described.

The GUI 1400 may be updated by the webserver to reflect that thedocuments are ready for one or more passengers, at block 1640. The GUImay display an indicator that the formatted data representative of theintegrated end-to-end travel instruments are ready/available for eachpassenger record.

At block 1646, the method 1600 may comprises sending (uploading), by thewebserver via the GUI, the passenger's journey document file for the oneor more passengers in a batch selection being checked-in to form amaster travel batch journey file. The method 1600 may comprise, at block1648, receiving by a peripheral device, via the GUI by the clientdevice, a request for generation of the integrated end-to-end travelinstrument devices based on the master travel batch journey file for oneor more passengers in the batch selection.

The method 1600 may comprise, at block 1650, generating, by theperipheral device, the integrated end-to-end TI device(s) for eachselected passenger in the batch selection, by printing for each selectedpassenger the corresponding passenger journey document file on at leastone blank integrated end-to-end travel instrument (TI) device to markthe at least one blank integrated end-to-end travel instrument (TI)device with the boarding pass information with emulated boarding passbarcode in a boarding pass format; and, if required, the officialboarding pass identifier(s) and linked luggage tag identifier(s) withluggage tag barcode(s) in a luggage tag format to form the boarding passinstrument and the luggage tag devices on a single-sheet integratedmedium. The temporary luggage tag includes at opposite ends a fasteneron each end to form a luggage tag device. The client device may beremote from or out of network from the THS. By way of non-limitingexample, a passenger may only require a boarding pass instrument. Theformatted data representative of the integrated end-to-end travelinstruments would only include data for one instrument which would bethe boarding pass instrument which when printed may become a boardingpass instrument device. If the formatted data representative of theintegrated end-to-end travel instruments also includes at least onetemporary LTID, then when printed a boarding pass instrument device andat least one luggage tag device may be created on the single-sheetintegrated medium. The boarding pass instrument device and the at leastone luggage tag device may be configured to be separated from the other.The luggage tag device may be configured to loop around a handle ofluggage and the ends of the loop affixed together by a fastener, such asadhesive. Because a passenger journey document file may include multipleboarding pass instruments and/or more than X luggage tags, additionalsingle-sheet integrated mediums may be needed to form all travelinstruments to complete a journey end-to-end, in some embodiments. Thesingle-sheet integrated medium supports a boarding pass for one leg oftravel and up to X temporary luggage tags for luggage items to bechecked-in.

The forming of the integrated end-to-end journey TI device(s) may beperformed for each selected passenger who is checked-in for their travelreservation(s) in a check-in period.

In particular, unless specifically stated otherwise as apparent from thediscussion, it is appreciated that throughout the description,discussions utilizing terms such as “processing” or “computing” or“calculating” or “determining” or “displaying” or the like, refer to theaction and processes of a computer system, or similar electroniccomputing device, that manipulates and transforms data represented asphysical (electronic) quantities within the computer system's registersand memories into other data similarly represented as physicalquantities within the computer system memories or registers or othersuch data storage, transmission or display devices.

The inventors have determined that the processes described herein nu usea laser-jet printer for printing instead of AEA printers. Laser-jetprinters are significantly cheaper than AEA printers and in many casesalready available. Additionally, laser-jet printers require lesstraining of agents and technical support for printing. The laser-jetprinters may have a much faster throughput which may dramatically reducethe print time.

The envelope stuffing process may be eliminated. This greatly reducesthe time and labor hours required by agents during the travel instrumentprinting process. Additionally, the integrated travel instrument mayreduce the risk of human error by having all of a passenger's documentscontained in a single sheet.

In view of the above, embodiments herein include a system (i.e.,client-side HCI system 140) for computer-assisted generation ofintegrated passenger set of separable master travel instrument (MTI)devices for disembarking passengers. The passengers may be identified ina predetermined passenger list and travel to a plurality of finaldestinations using a plurality of distinct journey travel host systems(JTHS). The predetermined passenger list may include the entire manifestor part of the manifest.

The term “master travel instrument devices” as used herein refers to theclient system's ability to create boarding passes according to eachdistinct journey travel host system's individualized format(s). Forexample, each airline may use a distinct boarding pass object format. Afirst MTI device of the set includes an official boarding pass ID (BPID)and emulated boarding pass barcode according to the JTHS individualizedformat/template of the JTHS issuing the official BPID. In some cases,the JTHS may not have a customized/individualized format. In this case,a default boarding pass format will be used. The “master travelinstrument devices” as used herein refers to the system's ability tocreate customized boarding passes and alternately, default boardingpasses for a master set of JTHS.

The system 140 comprises a local client device 142 having at least oneprocessor and tangible, non-transitory computer program memory storinginstructions (program code) of a master check-in end-to-end passengertravel reservation (PTR) tool. The PTR tool is represented as agraphical user interface (GUI) 1400.

The instructions (program code) of the PTR tool, when executed by the atleast one processor, may upload and display a graphical user interface(GUI) 1400 including a passenger travel reservation (PTR) record of eachdisembarking passenger in the predetermined passenger list.

The instructions (program code) of the PTR tool, when executed by the atleast one processor, may display, on the GUI 1400, for each PTR record,a first status representative of a remote master check-in reservation(RMCIR) status of an end-to-end PTR (E2EPTR) and a second status ofavailability of a passenger journey document (PJD) file for downloadfrom the remote webserver. The RMCIR status may be updated on the GUI1400 based on a preset parameter for the generation of the integratedpassenger set of separable MTI devices for the predetermined passengerlist. The preset parameter may include “checked-in” status, 48-hourstatus or 24-hour status.

The instructions (program code) of the PTR tool, when executed by the atleast one processor, may cause a change in the displayed GUI 1400representative of an update to the RMCIR status, in response toreceiving from the remote webserver data indicative of completion of aremote master check-in process. The remote master check-in process maybe configured to obtain an official boarding pass identifier (BPID) foreach travel leg of the E2EPTR to a final destination. In addition to theBPID, N alphanumeric value of official baggage tag identifiers (BTIDs)may be obtained, wherein N is an alphanumeric value representative of anumber of passenger luggage items to be checked-in represented innumeric values and/or alphabetical values. For example, alphanumericvalue N may be 0 or null if no items are to be checked-in. The RMCIRstatus when updated may reflect the preset parameter.

The instructions (program code) of the PTR tool, when executed by the atleast one, processor, may communicate with a remote webserver, using theGUI 1400, data representative of a single batch selection of a pluralityof disembarking passengers, in response to a batch selection commandreceived by the GUI 1400 for those PTR records with the updated RMCIRstatus meeting the preset parameter. The batch selection may be afiltered batch selection for those PTR records including the RMCIRstatus which may meet the preset parameter.

The instructions (program code) of the PTR tool, when executed by the atleast one processor, may download, from the webserver, a master traveljourney file having a batch of assembled passenger journey document(APJD) files (i.e., PJDF) 160. Each respective one APJD file correspondsto a respective one disembarking passenger identified in the batchselection. Each respective one APJD file may include data indicative theofficial boarding pass identifier (BPID) for each travel leg via atleast one journey travel host system (JTHS) to the final destination ofthe E2EPTR. The APJD file may include the N alphanumeric value of theofficial baggage tag identifiers (BTIDs). In some embodiments. the Nalphanumeric value may have an alphanumeric value. For example, insteadof 0, the N alphanumeric value may have a value of null.

The instructions (program code) of the PTR tool, when executed by the atleast one processor, may, after the master journey document file may bedownloaded, cause the computer-assisted generation of integratedpassenger set of separable master travel instrument (MTI) devices, usingdata in the master journey document file, in response to a singlerequest command to initiate the generation received by the GUI 1400. Thecomputer-assisted generation may be in response to a single requestreceived by the GUI 1400 to start the computer-assisted generation ofthe MTI devices for all passengers in the batch selection. In otherwords, the MTI devices may be generated for only those passengers in thepassenger list identified in the batch selection without regard to thedifferent and distinct boarding pass objects for the different anddistinct JTHSs.

The integrated passenger set of the separable MTI devices of arespective one PTR record includes, for each travel leg to the finaldestination, a first MTI device having an official checked-in boardingpass identifier (BPID) and emulated boarding pass barcode customized forthe JTHS in the E2EPTR. The emulated boarding pass barcode may beelectronically recognizable by the JTHS which issued the BPID. If thepassenger has zero luggage items to check-in, then no second MTI devicesmay be required for the passenger set. The integrated passenger set ofseparable MTI devices may include integrated passenger subsets, whereineach integrated subset includes at least one of a second distinctofficial BPID and up to X additional official BTIDs. For example, fortwo (2) travel legs (hops), three BPIDs may be required. Furthermore,each hop of the two (2) travel legs to the final destination may use twodifferent and distinct JTHSs for travel modes. Thus, the subsets mayhave customized first MTI devices according to distinct boarding passobject formats individualized for the corresponding JTHS of eachdistinct leg. There is a one to one correspondence between a singleboarding pass object and a single-sheet page count.

The number of subsets in the integrated passenger set of the separableMII devices may be a function of N/X rounded up to the next integer. Ifthe passenger has luggage items to check, then up to X second MTIdevices may be generated for incorporation into the first subset. Thesecond subset may include any remaining LTIDs up to X. In someembodiments, a first set, of up to X second MTI devices, may beintegrated with the first MTI for the first BPID corresponding to thefirst travel leg. The number X is a non-zero integer corresponding to amaximum number of X distinct second MTI device sections in the singlesheet paired with a single BPID.

The first MTI device may be it with up to N official BTIDs. Each secondMTI device includes a temporary luggage tag identifier (LTID) linked toan official BTID and LTID barcode wherein there is a one-to-onecorrespondence between the LTID and the official BTID.

A single sheet may be used for a respective one subset of integratedpassenger sets. The single sheet defines an individualized templateincluding a single (only one section for the creation of the first MTIdevice. The first MTI device and/or up to X second MTI devices generatedon a single sheet are generated in a manner such that the first MTIdevice and each second MTI device of a set or subset are individuallyseparable from each other on a single sheet, after generation. Thesingle sheet includes a first mechanism integrated into the single sheetwhich allows the first MTI device to be separated from the second MTIdevices. The single sheet includes a second mechanism integrated intothe single sheet which allows the up to X second MTI devices to beseparated from each other to form separated luggage tag devices. Thefirst mechanism and the second mechanism may include perforations.

The instructions (program code) of the PTR tool, when executed by the atleast one processor, may cause a change, in each PTR record in thedisplayed GUI, representative of an update to a status of the MTIdevices to indicate completion of the generation of integrated passengerset of the separable MTI devices associated with the passenger. By wayof non-limiting example, an indication representative of “printed” onthe GUI may provide a status representative of completion of thegeneration of the integrated passenger sets. Each generated second MTIdevice includes a tangible substrate with opposite ends configured to beaffixed together using an attachment mechanism and forms a luggage tagdevice to be affixed to a luggage item.

The APJD file comprises at least one master single-sheet integrated JTHStravel instrument (TI) template, each master single-sheet JTHS TItemplate includes only one designated boarding pass section (i.e., firstMTI device section) in which a customized boarding pass object for thedistinct JTHS issuing the official BPID may be formatted. The boardingpass object may be populated with the official BPID and emulated BPIDbarcode. The webserver may be configured to determine a page countvalue. The page count value may be calculated as a function of thenumber of BPIDs needed for the E2EPTR to reach the final destination.

The master single-sheet JTHS TI template comprises X LTID sections. EachLTID section formats the LTID section with a luggage tag object forpopulating a corresponding one temporary LTID and LTID barcode. The pagecount value may be calculated as a function of the number of N ofpassenger luggage items to be checked-in relative to the maximum numberX of luggage tag sections on the single sheet.

The master travel journey file may be a single file document. The mastertravel journey file may be an assembly of a batch of APJD filesassociated with each passenger identified in the batch selection withoutregard to the customized boarding pass object for each different anddistinct JTHS of a master set of distinct JTHSs. Even if a JTHS does nothave a customized boarding pass object, the server uses a defaultboarding pass object. Thus, the master travel journey file may bearranged such that a single peripheral device coupled to the localclient device may cause serial generation of the set of the MTI devices,for each passenger in the batch selection, using the ordered arrangementof the PTR records as a function of the order of the PTR records in thebatch selection. The serial generation may be initiated based on asingle request command to cause the peripheral device to print themaster travel journey file on the blank integrated end-to-end travelinstrument (TI) devices 146. This effectuates computer-assistedgeneration of an integrated passenger set of separable master travelinstrument (MTI) devices, for each disembarking passenger in the batchselection.

An embodiment may include a server including instructions which whenexecuted by a server processor to cause the server processor to providea PRT tool (i.e., GUI 1400) from which a local client device mayinitiate computer-assisted generation of an integrated passenger set ofseparable master travel instrument (MTI) devices, for disembarkingpassengers. The method may comprise setting a preset parameter for thegeneration of the integrated passenger set of separable MTI devices fora predetermined passenger list. The preset parameter may limit aduration of time in advance of travel on a distinct JTHS for whichgeneration of the integrated passenger set of separable master travelinstrument (MTI) devices may be initiated.

The method may comprise providing, by a server, a local check-inend-to-end passenger travel reservation (PTR) tool to a local clientcomputing device. The PTR tool comprises a graphical user interface(GUI) configured to display a passenger travel reservation (PTR) recordassociated with each disembarking passenger in the predeterminedpassenger list. The PTR record includes data indicative of passengerinformation, at least one travel leg using at least one distinct journeytravel host system (JTHS) to a final destination, an alphanumeric valueN of passenger bags to check-in, and at least one of a remote check-inreservation (CIR) status of the at least one travel leg, status ofavailability of a passenger journey document (PJD) file assembled by aremote server and status of locally generated integrated end-to-endmaster travel instrument (MTI) devices. The PTR record may include anumber of boarding passes needed for the passenger to reach their finaldestination using at least one distinct JTHS.

The method may include receiving, by the server, at least one officialBPID issued by at least one distinct JTHS and/or at least one officialBTID issued by a distinct JTHS, wherein the at least on official BPIDand/or at least one official BTID being issued in response to a remotecheck-in process. The remote check-in process may be performed by adifferent server with one or more processors configured to perform theremote check-in process to obtain the official BPID and official BTIDs.

The method may include receiving, by the server, the selected batch ofpassengers to initiate a download process of a master travel journeyfile including an assembled PJD file for each passenger in the selectedbatch. The method may include assembling, by the server, the assembledPJD file for each passenger in the selected batch.

The assembling of a PJDF, by the server, uses a master travel instrumentintegration process. The master travel instrument integration processfor assembling the PJDF may comprise determining a number of boardingpasses for an end-to-end PTR (E2EPTR) to a final destination associatedwith the PTR record. In some embodiments, the PTR tool (i.e., GUI 1400)may be updated with the number of official BPIDs issues for thepassenger.

The assembling may comprise determining, by the server, an alphanumericvalue N of passenger luggage items to check-in and calculating, by theserver, and a single-sheet template page count for the PJD file of apassenger based on the number of boarding passes, the alphanumeric valueN relative to a maximum number X of distinct temporary luggage tagidentifier (LTID) zones in a single-sheet template used to generate ofthe integrated passenger set of separable master travel instrument (MTI)devices.

For at least one travel leg of the E2EPTR, the method may includedetermining, by the server, at least one distinct JTHS for the E2EPTR.The method may include retrieving, by the server, the single-sheettemplate to formulate a customized image or drawing representative. ofthe integrated passenger set of separable master travel instrument (MTI)devices associated with the determined distinct JTHS issuing an officialBPID associated with the PTR record. The method may include retrieving,by the server, if the value N is greater than 0, X number of officialbaggage tag identifiers (BTIDs) issued by the determined distinct JTHS.

The method may include formulating, by the server, in the single-sheettemplate a distinct JTHS boarding pass object for the determineddistinct JTHS, including populating the official BPID, and an emulatedBPID barcode for the determined distinct JTHS, to create a customizedimage or drawing of a boarding pass electronically recognizable by thedetermined distinct The boarding pass object may include: official BTIDsissued by the distinct JTHS.

The formulating, by the server, if the value N is greater than 0, up toX temporary luggage tag objects in up to X distinct temporary luggagetag identifier (LTID) zones of the single-sheet template, each luggagetag object including a respective one temporary luggage tag identifier(LTID) and a LTID barcode to create a customized image or drawing of atemporary luggage tag. There is a one-to-one correspondence between eachofficial BTID and temporary LTID.

The method repeats the formulating, by the server, to formulate eachsubsequent next page in the page count, wherein the formulating of thesubsequent next page includes at least one of: a) formulating a distinctJTHS boarding pass object for the determined distinct JTHS for a nextleg of travel; and b) formulating up to X temporary luggage tag objectsfor any remaining official BTIDs. The method includes inserting in themaster travel journey file the assembled PJDF in an ordered arrangementcorresponding to the ordered arrangement of PTR records in the selectedbatch.

The method may include communicating, by the server, to the local clientcomputing device the master travel journey file. In some embodiments,the master travel journey file may be sent to the local client computingdevice with all assembled PJD files for each passenger in the selectedbatch.

The method may include updating, by the server, the status of theavailability of the assembled journey document (PJD) file displayed bythe GUI on the local client device. The method may include updating, bythe server, the check-in reservation (CIR) status in each PTR recorddisplayed by the GUI on the local client device. The CIR status may bebased on a determination made whether data in the PTR record satisfies apredetermined condition associated with the preset parameter, for eachpassenger in the selected batch.

The CIR status may be updated in response to the server receiving theofficial BPID from the issuing JTHS and/or the official BTID.

The method may include receiving, by a peripheral device, a command viathe GUI, indicative of a single request to initiate thecomputer-assisted generation of all integrated passenger set of mastertravel instrument (MTI) devices in the master travel journey file of theselected batch by a peripheral device. The peripheral device is incommunication with the local client device and prints the MTI deviceswithout regard to different and distinct JTHS boarding pass objectsformatted in the master travel journey file.

The method may include changing the status indicative of the generationof the locally generated integrated passenger set of the separablemaster travel instrument (MTI) devices in each PTR record, in theselected batch.

The methods described herein for the generation of the integratedpassenger set of separable master travel instrument (MTI) devices on asingle sheet for any one passenger is performed by a single peripheraldevice. While a printed batch may use multiple printers, a single set ofMTI devices for a single passenger does not require different dedicatedperipheral devices for its generation.

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particularembodiments only and is not intended to be limiting. As used herein, thesingular forms “a,” “an,” and “the” may be intended to include theplural forms as well, unless the contest clearly indicates otherwise.Furthermore, to the extent that the terms “including,” “includes,”“having,” “has,” “with,” or variants thereof may be used in either thedetailed description and/or the claims, such terms may be intended to beinclusive in a manner similar to the term “comprising.” Moreover, unlessspecifically stated, any use of the terms first, second, etc., does notdenote any order or importance, but rather the terms first, second,etc., are used to distinguish one element from another.

While various disclosed embodiments have been described above, it shouldbe understood that they have been presented by way of example only, andnot limitation. Numerous changes, omissions and/or additions to thesubject matter disclosed herein may be made in accordance with theembodiments disclosed herein without departing from the spirit or scopeof the embodiments. Also, equivalents may be substituted for elementsthereof without departing from the spirit and scope of the embodiments.In addition, while a particular feature may have been disclosed withrespect to only one of several implementations, such feature may becombined with one or more other features of the other implementations asmay be desired and advantageous for any given or particular application.Furthermore, many modifications may be made to adapt a particularsituation or material to the teachings of the embodiments withoutdeparting from the scope thereof.

Therefore, the breadth and scope of the subject matter provided hereinshould not be limited by, any of the above explicitly describedembodiments. Rather, the scope of the embodiments should be defined inaccordance with the following claims and their equivalents.

What is claimed is:
 1. A system, comprising: a local check-in passengertravel reservation (PTR) tool comprising a graphical user interface(GUI) displayed on a display device, the local check-in PTR toolconfigured to: upload at least one PTR, each of the at least one PTRassociated with at least one passenger, display a list comprising the atleast one PTR and one or more travel reservation statuses associatedwith one or more journey travel host systems (JTHSs), and receive a userselection of a first set comprising one or more of said at least onepassengers for local check-in; and a webserver comprising one or moreprocessors configured to: generate a passenger journey document file(PJDF) comprising, one or more of said at least one PTR for a respectiveone of said first set of passengers, the PJDF including, for a travelleg of said one or more of said at least one PTR, a populatedsingle-sheet integrated travel instrument (TI) template populated withan official boarding pass identifier (BPID) for said respective one ofsaid first set of passengers issued by a corresponding one of said oneor more JTHSs associated with said travel leg, and each TI templatefurther comprising an emulated code associated with the official BPIDfor said respective travel leg, and for N checked-in luggage items ofsaid respective one of said first set of passengers, populated with Xtemporary luggage tag identifiers (LTIDs) linked to up to X retrievedofficial bag tag identifiers (BTIDs) issued by the JTHS of the travelleg, wherein X is a non-zero integer number, N is an integer number, andthere is a one-to-one correspondence between the LTIDs and the BTIDs;and update the travel reservation status in the GUI to reflect that thegenerated PJDF is ready for said respective one of the first set ofpassengers.
 2. The system of claim wherein the travel leg is a firsttravel leg and the webserver comprising the one or more processors isfurther configured to, when generating the PJDF of the PTR: determine apage count of the PJDF of the respective one of said first set ofpassengers based on a value of NIX and a number of official BPIDs forthe respective on of the first set of passengers; populate a first TItemplate with a first BPID and the emulated code for the first travelleg; populate at least one supplemental single-sheet integrated TItemplate with at least one of another official BPID of a second travelleg subsequent to the first travel leg with an emulated code of thesecond travel leg and luggage tag information corresponding to one ormore remaining LTIDs linked to one or more remaining BTIDs, wherein thedetermined page count is greater than 1; and assemble the PJDF of therespective one of said first set of passengers to include the first TItemplate and the at least one supplemental single-sheet integrated TItemplate.
 3. The system of claim 1, further comprising a computingsystem comprising one or more processors being configured to check-inthe first set of passengers, wherein the computing system is furtherconfigured to: for each travel leg of a first PTR associated with afirst passenger of the first set of passengers, communicate a request tothe corresponding JTHS; for each travel leg of the first PTR, extractfrom a data stream of the corresponding JTHS, the official BPID for thefirst passenger issued by the corresponding JTHS; communicate a luggageitem check-in request for the N luggage items, if the integer number Nis greater than 0; extract the official BTIDs associated with theluggage item check-in request; and generate and link up the LTIDs forand to the official BTIDs.
 4. The system of claim 1, wherein thepopulated single-sheet integrated TI template is generated at least inpart from an unpopulated single-sheet integrated TI template comprisinga boarding pass designated section and up to the integer number Xluggage tag designated sections and the webserver is further configuredto: look-up the unpopulated single-sheet integrated TI templateassociated with the corresponding JTHS in a template database, based ona corresponding JTHS identifier for the corresponding travel leg; andautonomously create an image-based text format file of the generatedPJDF for the respective one passenger of the set of passengers.
 5. Thesystem of claim 1, wherein the first set of passengers is associatedwith a group identifier, and the GUI is configured to filter the atleast one passenger to display, via the GUI, the first set ofpassengers.
 6. The system of claim 1, wherein each of the set ofsingle-sheet, integrated media comprises a boarding pass designatedsection and X luggage tag designated sections and wherein the non-zerointeger X is equal to 2, and wherein the GUI is configured to generate arequest to a peripheral device for the computer-assisted generation ofthe integrated TI devices, wherein one or more of the integrated TIdevices corresponding one locally checked-in passenger each comprises: aboarding pass instrument having printed, on a first layer of arespective one of the single-sheet integrated media in the boarding passdesignated section, passenger information, the BPID, the emulated code,and the official BTID; a first temporary luggage tag device (FLTD),detachable coupled to the boarding pass instrument via firstperforations, having printed in a first luggage tag designated section afirst LTID, a first LTID code and the passenger information; and asecond luggage tag device (SLTD), detachable coupled to the firsttemporary luggage tag device via second perforation, having printed in asecond luggage tag designated section a second LTID, a second LTID codeand the passenger information, wherein the FLTD comprises a firstadhesive for selectively adhering together opposite ends of the FLTD toattach the FLTD to a first luggage item; and the SLTD comprises a secondadhesive for selectively adhering together opposite ends of the SLTD toattach the SLTD to a second luggage item.
 7. The system of claim 6,further comprising a printing device configured to print at least onepassenger journey document file on the respective one of thesingle-sheet integrated media, wherein the first layer of thesingle-sheet integrated medium is tear proof other than along at leastthe first and second perforations.
 8. A non-transitory, tangiblecomputer readable storage media having stored thereon instructionswhich, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or moreprocessors to: generate a passenger journey document file (PJDF) of anpassenger travel reservation (PTR) comprising one or more travel legsfor one or more passenger in a travel manifest file, the PJDF including,for each of the one or more travel legs, a populated single-sheetintegrated travel instrument (TI) template populated with: an officialboarding pass identifier (BPID) issued by a journey travel host system(JTHS) associated with the corresponding travel leg, an emulated codeassociated with the official BPID for the corresponding travel leg, andfor each of one or more checked-in luggage item of the respective onepassenger, a temporary luggage tag identifier (LTID) linked to up to aretrieved official bag tag identifier (BTIDs) issued by the JTHSassociated with the corresponding travel leg; update a travelreservation status to reflect the generated PJDF is ready for the one ormore passengers; and receive a selection identifying at least onepassenger and at least one passenger travel reservations (PTR)associated with one or more of the at least one passenger.
 9. Thestorage media of claim 8, wherein the instructions, when executed by theone or more processors, further cause the one or more processors to,when generating the PDF of the PTR: determine a page count of the PJDFof the at least one passenger identified by the selection based at leastin part on a count of the checked-in luggage items and the officialBPIDs for the respective at least one passenger; populate a first TItemplate with a first official BPID and a first emulated code for afirst travel leg; populate a supplemental single-sheet integrated TItemplate with a second official BPID of a second travel leg of the PTRsubsequent to the first travel leg, a second emulated code of the secondtravel leg, and luggage tag information corresponding to remaining LTIDslinked to remaining BTIDs, when the determined page count is greaterthan 1; and assemble the RIDE of the of the at least one passengeridentified by the selection to include the first TI template and thesupplemental single-sheet integrated TI template.
 10. The storage mediaof claim 8, wherein the instructions, when executed by the one or moreprocessors, further cause the one or more processors to: for each of theone or more travel legs, communicate a request for remote check-in ofthe passenger to the JTHS associated with the corresponding travel leg;extract, from a data stream of the JTHS associated with thecorresponding travel leg, the official BPID issued by the JTHSassociated with the corresponding travel leg for the passenger;communicate a luggage item check-in request for the ore or morechecked-in luggage items; extract the official BTIDs associated with theluggage item check-in request; and generate and link up the LTIDs forand to the official BTIDs.
 11. The storage media of claim 8, wherein thepopulated single-sheet integrated TI template is generated from anunpopulated single-sheet integrated TI temple comprising a boarding passdesignated section and a luggage tag designated section for each of theone or more checked-in luggage items and the instructions, when executedby the one or more processors, further cause the one or more processorsto: look-up the unpopulated single-sheet integrated TI templateassociated with the corresponding JTHS in a template database, based ona corresponding JTHS identifier of the corresponding travel leg; andautonomously create an image-based text format file of the generatedPJDF for the respective one remotely checked-in passenger.
 12. Thestorage media of claim 8, wherein at least one set of passengers of atleast one passenger of the travel manifest file is associated with atleast one set of passengers, and wherein the instructions, when executedby the one or more processors, further cause the one or more processorsto: filter the at least one passenger to display the at least one set ofpassengers, wherein the at least one passenger of the set of passengersidentified by the selection comprises the at least one set ofpassengers.
 13. The storage media of claim 8, wherein the instructions,when executed by the one or more processors, further cause the one ormore processors to: generate a request to a peripheral device for thecomputer-assisted generation of the integrated TI devices for eachlocally checked-in passenger, wherein the integrated TI devices, for acorresponding one locally checked-in passenger comprises: a boardingpass instrument having printed, on a first layer of a respective one ofthe single-sheet integrated media in a boarding pass designated section,passenger information, the BPID, the emulated code, and the officialBTIDs; a first temporary luggage tag device (FLTD), detachable coupledto the boarding pass instrument via first perforations, having printedin a first luggage tag designated section a first LTID, a first LTIDcode and the passenger information; and a second luggage tag device(SLTD), detachable coupled to the first temporary luggage tag device viasecond perforation, having printed in a second luggage tag designatedsection a second LTID, a second LTID code and the passenger information,wherein the FLTD comprises a first adhesive for selectively adheringtogether opposite ends of the FLTD to attach the FLTD to a first luggageitem; and the SLID comprises a second adhesive for selectively adheringtogether opposite ends of the SLID to attach the SLTD to a secondluggage item.
 14. A method, comprising: providing a local check-inpassenger travel reservation (PTR) tool comprising a graphical userinterface (GUI) displayed on a display device, the local check-in PTRtool configured to: upload one or more PTR associated with at least onepassengers identified in a travel manifest file, display a listcomprising the one or more of PTR and at least one travel reservationstatus associated with at least one journey travel host system (JTHS),and receive a user selection of at least a passenger for local check-in;generating, by a webserver, a passenger journey document file (PJDF)comprising one or more of said PTRs for each of said one or morepassenger, the PJDF including, for each respective travel leg of saidone or more PTR, a populated single-sheet integrated travel instrument(TI) template populated with an official boarding pass identifier (BPID)for said respective one of said first set of passengers issued by acorresponding one or more of said JTHS associated with said respectivetravel leg, and each TI template further comprising an emulated codeassociated with the official BPID for said respective travel leg, andfor N checked-in luggage items of the for said respective one of saidfirst set of passengers, populated with X temporary luggage tagidentifiers (LTID) linked to up to X retrieved official bag tagidentifiers (BTIDs) issued by the JTHS of the respective travel leg,wherein X is a non-zero integer number, N is an integer number, andthere is a one-to-one correspondence between the LTIDs and the BTIDs;updating, by the webserver, the travel reservation status in the GUI toreflect that the generated PJDF is ready for said respective one of thefirst set of passengers; and
 15. The method of claim 14, furthercomprising: determining, by the webserver, a page count of the PJDF ofthe first set of passengers based on a value of NIX and a number ofofficial BPIDs for the respective one of the first set of passengers;populating, by the webserver, a first TI template with a first officialBPID and the emulated code for the first travel leg; populating, by thewebserver, at least one supplemental single-sheet integrated TI templatewith at least one of another official BPID of a second travel legsubsequent to the first travel leg with an emulated code of the secondtravel leg subsequent to the first travel leg and luggage taginformation corresponding to one or more remaining LTIDs linked to oneor more remaining BTIDs, wherein the determined page count is greaterthan 1; and assembling, by the webserver, the PJDF of the respective onepassenger to include the first TI template and the at least onesupplemental single-sheet integrated TI template.
 16. The method ofclaim 14, further comprising: checking in at least one passenger,wherein the checking in comprises the steps of: for each travel leg of afirst PTR associated with a passenger, communicating a request to thecorresponding JTHS; for each travel leg of the first PTR, extracting,from a data stream of the corresponding JTHS, the official BPID for thefirst passenger issued by the corresponding JTHS; communicating aluggage item check-in request for the N luggage items, if the integernumber N is greater than O; extracting, the official BTIDs associatedwith the luggage item check-in request; and generating and linking upthe LTIDs for and to the official BTIDs.
 17. The method of claim 14,wherein the single-sheet integrated TI template is generated at least inpart from an unpopulated single-sheet integrated TI template comprisinga boarding pass designated section and up to the integer number X ofluggage tag designated sections, the method further comprising:looking-up, by the webserver, the unpopulated single-sheet integratedtemplate associated with the corresponding JTHS in a template database,based on a corresponding JTHS identifier for the corresponding travelleg; and autonomously creating, by the webserver, a portable documentformat (PDF) file of the generated PJDF for the respective at least onepassenger, wherein the at least one PJDF includes at least one PTRassociated with a set of JTHSs.
 18. The method of claim 14, wherein oneor more passengers is associated with a group identifier, the methodfurther comprising filtering the one or more passengers to display, viathe GUI, the one ore more passengers and wherein the user selection ofthe at least passenger for local check-in comprises the one or morepassengers
 19. The method of claim 14, further comprising: generating,by the GUI, a request to a peripheral device for computer-assistedgeneration of the integrated TI devices for at least one passenger,wherein the generation of integrated TI devices, for a corresponding onepassenger comprises: forming a boarding pass instrument having printed,on a first layer of a respective one of the single-sheet integratedmedia in the boarding pass designated section, passenger information,the BPID, the emulated code, and the official BTID; forming a firsttemporary luggage tag device (FLTD), detachable coupled to the boardingpass instrument via first perforations, having printed in a firstluggage tag designated section a first LTID, a first LTID code and thepassenger information; and forming a second luggage tag device (SLTD),detachable coupled to the first temporary luggage tag device via secondperforation, having printed in a second luggage tag designated section asecond LTID, a second LTID code and the passenger information, whereinthe FLTD comprises a first adhesive for selectively adhering togetheropposite ends of the FLTD to attach the FLTD to a first luggage item;and the SLID comprises a second adhesive for selectively adheringtogether opposite ends of the SLTD to attach the SLTD to a secondluggage item.
 20. The method of claim 19, further comprising: printing,by a printing device, one or more passenger journey document files onthe respective one of the single-sheet integrated media, wherein thefirst layer of the single-sheet integrated medium is tear proof otherthan along at least the first and second perforations.